Iran nuclear chief announces completion of new facility to produce centrifuges

Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday announced to state media that the Islamic Republic had completed construction of a facility capable of producing advanced centrifuges at its nuclear plant Natanz, fulfilling threats that it would continue nuclear production in the event that the US withdraw from the 2014 nuclear deal and slap heavy sanctions on the country.

“Ayatollah Khamenei ordered us to set up and complete a very advanced hall for the construction of modern centrifuges, and this hall has now been fully equipped and set up,” said the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization to IRNA news agency, according to Reuters.

In recent months, Iran has made known its plans to increase its uranium enrichment capacity. In May, following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, a letter was submitted to the Atomic Energy Agency “regarding the start of certain activities," according to Salehi, indicating work had begun on the infrastructure for building advanced centrifuges at the Natanz facility.

However, Salehi vowed in the letter that the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities would remain within the framework of the crumbling agreement.

"What we are doing does not violate the (2015 nuclear) agreement," he said, noting that this was just the start of the production process and "does not mean that we will start assembling the centrifuges."

Under the landmark deal, Iran can build parts for the centrifuges as long as it does not put them into operation within the first decade.

Salehi also emphasized that these moves "do not mean the negotiations [with Europe] have failed."