France condemns Iran nuclear move

Tehran’s claim on Tuesday that it had installed “new centrifuges with better quality and speed” will inflame fears in the west that Iran was making good on its promise to build new secret enrichment facilities to make weapons-grade uranium.

Washington had been “watching very closely” for signs that Iran was building a new facility, a senior official told the Financial Times, adding that it was “inevitable” that the Islamic republic would try to build a new site. He said: “Based on their track record, it’s logical that they would try to build another clandestine enrichment facility.”

Iran’s foreign ministry did not say where the centrifuges were being installed but Ramin Mehmanparast, an official, said Iran’s nuclear activities were “peaceful” and were carried out under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

France condemned the announcement. “This is yet another violation of the six Security Council resolutions and the 10 IAEA board of governors resolutions,” a foreign ministry official said.

Scientists said the centrifuges would probably be in the pilot fuel fabrication plant at Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. A secret facility near Qom, the holy city south of Tehran, was uncovered in 2009.

Tehran last month said it would treble its capacity to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU) at 20 per cent, a concentration seen as a significant step towards manufacturing weapons-grade HEU. Tehran said it would also shift its manufacture to an underground bunker at the Qom facility.

Inspectors said there was evidence of a military dimension to Iran’s nuclear programme. Analysts also said that Iran could try to build another secret site to avoid detection.

“Iran is dedicated to developing its capability,” said David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.

“It’s not only about being able to make a weapon. It’s also about being able to make HEU quickly.”

Iran has been trying to build new high-tech centrifuges that would enable it to enrich uranium at much higher speeds, but has been able to test these only in small numbers at the pilot project at Natanz.

“If they can develop the advanced centrifuges which they’ve said they want to do at Qom this year, their capabilities will go way up,” Mr Albright said.