Iran to expand nuclear centrifuges after spat with UN watchdog

TEHRAN – Iran said it will increase the number of centrifuges in its nuclear programme in response to a censure by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, ratcheting up tensions with the West just days after it signalled a willingness to ease them.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mr Mohammad Eslami, ordered a “significant collection” of “new and advanced” centrifuges, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

That was because of a rebuke from the International Atomic Energy Agency over Tehran’s failure to resolve a probe into uranium particles found at undeclared locations, the statement said.

The move is in line with Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme, it said, adding that technical cooperation with the IAEA will continue.

The IAEA’s board of governors passed a resolution late on Nov 21, censuring Iran over the years-long investigation. It came days after the Islamic Republic suggested it was ready to resolve the stand-off over its atomic work by agreeing to stop enriching uranium to 60 per cent levels, close to the level required for nuclear weapons.

Iran “remains ready for constructive engagement with relevant parties based on international legal principles and standards”, the Foreign Ministry said.

The IAEA resolution calls on the body’s inspectors to publish a comprehensive report about Iran’s nuclear activities next year.

Iran’s earlier pledge to cease creating more highly enriched nuclear fuel was the first time the nation had made such a proposal, according to the IAEA. 

“They are taking a different direction,” director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Dec 20. “This is the first time that they are saying, ‘Okay, we stop.’”

The move was seen as a way of appeasing incoming US president Donald Trump, some of whose advisers have said his administration will increase sanctions on Iran. Such a move could worsen the Islamic Republic’s already struggling economy. BLOOMBERG