Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran has started installing advanced centrifuge machines for enriching uranium at its main nuclear plant at Natanz, Reuters reported with reference to the UN's nuclear watchdog.

The Natanz facility, in central Iran, is at the heart of the country's dispute with the UN's watchdog.

In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been put in place at the facility near the town of Natanz in central Iran. But they were not yet operating.

The report also said that despite intensified dialogue with Iran, no progress has been made on how to clear up the questions about Iran's nuclear work.

The IAEA has made similar complaints in previous quarterly reports, and Iran is under an array of sanctions as a result of its lack of co-operation.

Iran had informed the IAEA in a letter on 23 January that it planned to introduce a new model of centrifuge called the IR2m, which can enrich two or three times faster than current equipment.

Gas centrifuges are used to increase the proportion of fissile uranium-235 atoms within uranium.

For uranium to work in a nuclear reactor it must be enriched to contain 2-3 percent uranium-235 while weapons-grade uranium must contain 90 percent or more uranium-235.

The Western states criticized Iran's this step taken ahead of the nuclear talks with six world powers.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that Iran's installation of new-generation centrifuges would be "yet another provocative step."

"The installation of new advanced centrifuges would be a further escalation, and a continuing violation of Iran's obligations under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and IAEA board resolutions," she said.

However, she added that Iran had the opportunity to allay the international community's concerns during talks in Kazakhstan next week.

White House spokesman Jay Carney also warned Iran that it would face further pressure and isolation if it failed to address international concerns about its nuclear program in the upcoming talks with world powers in Kazakhstan.

In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the report "proves that Iran continues to advance swiftly towards the red line" that he laid down last year.

Meanwhile, Iranian ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh has once again expressed Iran's commitment to resolving issues pertaining to its nuclear energy program with the UN agency, while commenting on the IAEA's report.

Soltanieh said on Thursday that the U.N. agency's report showed "no evidence of diversion of material and nuclear activities towards military purposes."

He went on saying that Iran was committed to the continuation of talks with the IAEA to resolve the outstanding issues.

Iran and the IAEA wrapped up their latest round of talks on the Iranian nuclear energy program in Tehran on February 13.

After the talks, Soltanieh, who headed the Iranian negotiating team, said that the sides had resolved some differences and reached an agreement on certain issues.

The international talks over Iran's nuclear programme are due to resume in Kazakhstan next week. The talks, which scheduled to be held in Almaty, will involve Iranian officials, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Germany.

Earlier, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that upcoming talks will not lead to a breakthrough, however Moscow hopes for better preparedness on the part of Tehran in the next dialogue, RIA Novosti reported.

"We expect that Iran will arrive in Almaty better prepared in terms of the possibility for conducting a real process, which consists of finding a common platform for solutions, rather than just repeating already well known ones," Ryabkov said.

"Equally, the group of six is approaching preparations for the Almaty round in the same way. In Almaty, we will present a position, which essentially repeats the previous ones in terms of outcomes and expectations from the negotiation process, however configuration of all components of this position, arrangement of the approach, nuances, accents, and some other meaningful moments will differ from those set out previously," Ryabkov said.

The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon. But Iran denied it, stating that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.