IAEA: Iran Installing New Nuclear Equipment, US: Step Provocative

Local Editor

A new UN atomic agency report stated Thursday that Iran has begun installing next-generation equipment at one of its main nuclear plants.

"On 6 February 2013, the Agency observed that Iran had started the installation of IR-2m centrifuges at the Natanz plant," the International Atomic Energy Agency report said.
It further added that "this is the first time that centrifuges more advanced than the IR-1 have been installed at the plant in central Iran."

One official said that Iran intended to install around 3,000 of the new centrifuges at Natanz - where around 12,500 of the older models are installed - enabling it to speed up the enrichment of uranium.
The new report said that Iran has so far produced 280 kilos (617 pounds) of 20-percent uranium, of which around 110 kilos have been diverted to fuel production.

The report came ahead of a new meeting between Iran and six world powers- the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany- in Kazakhstan on February 26.
These talks between the P5+1 and Iran will be the first since June, when three rounds of meetings last year ended in stalemate in Moscow.

Meanwhile, the United States warned Iran that the installation of next-generation centrifuges, as reported by the UN atomic agency, would be a "provocative step."
The installation "would be a further escalation and a continuing violation of Iran's obligations under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and IAEA board resolutions," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"So it would mark yet another provocative step," she said.

Nuland, who said the report of new centrifuges were no surprise, urged Iran to consider "another path... the diplomatic path."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org