Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
not made any headway on solving outstanding issues on Iran's nuclear
programme while the country keeps making progress at its uranium
enrichment centre, according to an IAEA report released Friday.
In his latest report issued to IAEA member states, Director
General Mohamed ElBaradei said that as of May 31, Iran had 4,920
uranium enrichment centrifuges running, up from 3,936 such machines
operating in February.
So far, the enrichment plant in Natanz has produced 1,339
kilogrammes of low-enriched uranium, 33 per cent more compared with
the figure given in the last IAEA report in February.
Commenting on this increase, a senior official close to the IAEA
said that 'most of it can be attributed to the number of additional
machines.'
The United Nations Security Council has passed a series of
sanctions against Tehran in order to pressure the country to halt the
enrichment facility which could theoretically be used to produce
material for nuclear weapons.
An additional 2,301 centrifuges have been installed but are not
yet in operation.
The Vienna-based agency has not made any progress in the past
months on clarifying indications that Iran was conducting nuclear
weapons-related research projects in the past.
'Certainly we would like to get moving' on this issue, the
official said, as the nuclear watchdog has been working on the
Iranian nuclear file for six years.
The report came one day after US President Barack Obama warned of
a nuclear arms race in the Middle East while once again offering to
enter into a bilateral dialogue with Iran.
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