Iran installing 3,000 centrifuges

On the weekend, Iran dismissed reports from Europe that its uranium enrichment programme had been stalled. But last year Iran had said the installation of the 3,000 centrifuges would be completed by the end of 2006.

The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of trying to produce atomic weapons. Iran denies this, saying its programme is only for generating electricity. Iran’s failure to install the 3,000 centrifuges by December 31 has provoked reports that it is encountering technical difficulties in mastering large-scale enrichment.

Earlier this month, Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, told reporters that about 50 centrifuges had exploded during a test. “We had installed 50 centrifuges. One night, I was informed that all the 50 centrifuges had exploded… (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad called me and said: ‘Build these machines even if they explode 10 times more’,” Aghazadeh was quoted as saying by the Iranian media.

Diplomats in Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency is based, said on Thursday that the enrichment programme in Natanz, central Iran, had ground to a halt.

Last month President Ahmadinejad boasted that Iran would soon celebrate, probably in February, the completion of its nuclear fuel cycle — the processing of uranium from mining the ore to enriching it.

The government has condemned as “invalid” and “illegal” the UN Security Council resolution that imposed sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The resolution warned Iran if it refused to comply within 60 days, the council would adopt further sanctions.

Iran says that as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it has the right to develop a peaceful uranium enrichment programme to produce nuclear power.