Iran is installing new centrifuges: IAEA

UNDER THE DEAL, IRAN HAS BEEN LIMITED TO OPERATING 5,060 OLDER-MODEL IR-1 CENTRIFUGES. BUT IAEA SAW 30 ADVANCED IR-6 AND THREE IR-6S MODELS, AND AS MANY IR-4 AND IR-5 MODELS.

BERLIN:THE UN’S atomic watchdog confirmed on Monday that Iran is preparing to use more advanced centrifuges, another breach of limits set in the country’s slowly unraveling nuclear deal with major powers.

Iran had already announced the step, its latest violation of the 2015 agreement as it tries to pressure European signatories to find a way to maintain oil shipments and ease the toll of US sanctions on the Iranian economy. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that its inspectors verified the installation of new centrifuges. The agency said all had been “prepared for testing” but none yet tested at the time of the September 7-8 inspection.

The nuclear deal was meant to keep Tehran from building atomic weapons in exchange for economic incentives. Its collapse started with the US withdrawing from the deal last year and imposing increased sanctions. The other signatories — UK, France, Germany, China and Russia, as well as the EU — have been struggling to salvage the agreement and find a way to meet Tehran’s demands.

NETANYAHU: IRAN HAD WEAPONS SITE

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iran of having a previously undisclosed site aimed at developing nuclear weapons that it destroyed. Iran destroyed the site located near the city of Abadeh, south of Isfahan, sometime between late June and late July after realising that Israel had detected it, Netanyahu alleged. In an address on live television, with photos of the alleged site on a screen behind him, Netanyahu referred to an intelligence trove he had previously announced last year.