Iran issues conflicting signals on centrifuges

Tehran: An Iranian nuclear official denied a statement by a Tehran parliamentarian on Saturday that the country had begun installing 3,000 new atomic centrifuges for uranium enrichment - a process that can make atomic bombs.

Hossein Simorgh, the head of public affairs at Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, was quoted by IRNA news agency as saying no such new devices had been fitted at its Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, had earlier been quoted as saying Iran had started installing the centrifuges, used to make fuel for power stations or material for atomic bombs.

"No new centrifuge machine has been installed in Natanz facility," said Simorgh, responding to Boroujerdi's comments.

The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran on December 23 and gave the Islamic Republic 60 days to suspend uranium enrichment.

Diplomats have said inspectors from the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had concluded Iran was ready to start installing the centrifuges. But they said timing the installation was likely to be a political decision.

If Iran puts 3,000 machines in place and runs them smoothly, it could make enough material for at least one warhead in a year. But Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, insists its aims are peaceful and it wants to generate electricity.

Iran already operates two experimental cascades of 164 centrifuges, for purifying uranium in Natanz.

UN sanctions banned the transfer of sensitive materials and know-how to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. The United States has also imposed sanctions on two big Iranian state banks, ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran.

The Security Council has said that if Iran freezes enrichment, then sanctions could be lifted.

The Islamic Republic said on Tuesday it was barring entry to 38 IAEA inspectors, who were nationals of Western countries which sponsored the UN sanctions or backed them. The IAEA has urged Iran to review that step.