Dissident says Iran has 4,000 centrifuges
Iran has manufactured about 4,000 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons grade, an exiled Iranian dissident who helped uncover nearly two decades of covert nuclear activity in 2002 said today.
Alireza Jafarzadeh said the centrifuges – which he said were unknown to the UN nuclear watchdog agency – were ready to be installed at Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz.
Jafarzadeh, who runs Strategic Policy Consulting, a Washington-based think tank focusing on Iran and Iraq, said the information – which he described as “very recent” – came from sources within the Tehran regime who had proven accurate in the past.
The Vienna-based IAEA, which was convening an emergency meeting on Iran later today, did not immediately comment on the centrifuge allegations. The agency previously said it was aware of the existence of 164 centrifuges at Natanz.
“These 4,000 centrifuge machines have not been declared to the IAEA, and the regime has kept the production of these machines hidden from the inspectors while the negotiations with the European Union have been going on over the past 21 months,” he said.
Iran on Saturday rejected a package of EU incentives presented by envoys from Britain, France and Germany, and yesterday it announced it had resumed uranium conversion activities at its nuclear facility at Isfahan.
Jafarzadeh said the centrifuges were manufactured in Isfahan and Tehran, and that construction of buildings, concrete foundations and other work needed to prepare the Natanz facility for centrifuge installation has continued in recent months.
The IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors was meeting to assess Iran’s latest nuclear activities, and diplomats said it could issue a formal warning to Tehran.
The board, however, appeared unlikely to report Iran to the UN Security Council, which has the authority to impose economic or political sanctions on the regime.
