Iran begins manufacturing centrifuges at Natanz facility
Amid a hiatus in Vienna over the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran informs the IAEA that it will start manufacturing centrifuges at the Natanz facility.
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Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran
The production of centrifuge parts at the Shahid Roshan complex in Natanz has started following the transfer of equipment from the Karaj Industrial Complex, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
Nour News, a website close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the monitoring activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency would not be affected at the new site, which means the data recorded by the IAEA's cameras would not be handed over to it.
"On 13 April 2022, Iran informed the Agency that the machines would start operating at the new workshop the same day," the IAEA report said, without saying whether it had verified that the machines had started operating.
The Iranian news site reported that this "important and strategic" move could be seen as a decisive step in bolstering the protection and security of the Iranian nuclear facilities and related industries.
As per an agreement reached between the IAEA and Tehran more than a year ago, the agency does not have access to the data collected by cameras and other monitoring equipment from some locations, such as centrifuge-parts workshops.
Tehran has been holding the Israeli occupation responsible for the sabotage acts carried out during the past few years against Iranian nuclear facilities as the IAEA stood idle and did not express the slightest concern for the need to act responsibly and take action to safeguard the peaceful nuclear activities of countries.
An Israeli Mossad officer made an attempt to reach the IR6 centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, Iranian media reported last month.
"The Mossad recruited one of the neighbors of the plant's workers, and he was trained and given technical preparation," local media said, revealing that "Tel Aviv" wanted to carry out its plan before Nowruz.
The AEOI's initiative was a clear translation of the strategy announced by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to stress not linking activities and projects in the country to negotiations with external parties.
The move also came as the Vienna talks aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal are on a hiatus amid major issues that are still stuck.
Talks are on hold as negotiators attempt to convince the United States that it was time to make political decisions, with a senior Iranian lawmaker briefed by Iran's chief negotiator revealing that Tehran was doing everything in its power to push the talks forward and reach an agreement.
Despite Iran's cooperation, lawmaker Jalil Rahimi Jahan Abadi said the other side continues to act in bad faith. The Western side does not cooperate in most matters, he added, and their behavior is dishonest.
