IAEA: Iran Adds Half of New Enrichment Machines at Fordow Plant

Iran has installed half of the advanced uranium-enriching machines it recently announced for its underground Fordow site, according to a UN nuclear watchdog report seen by Reuters.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) noted that the four new cascades have not yet begun enriching uranium.

Two weeks ago, Tehran informed the IAEA of its plans to expand enrichment capacity at Fordow by adding eight IR-6 centrifuge cascades within three to four weeks.

Within two days, the IAEA verified the installation of two cascades. In a confidential report on Friday, seen by Reuters, the agency said after a verification was carried out that this number had doubled.

IR-6 cascades are advanced centrifuge clusters used by Iran for uranium enrichment. They are more efficient than earlier models, enabling faster and higher enrichment levels, which can be used for energy or potentially nuclear weapons.

Iran has been enriching uranium faster and at higher levels since 2021, as the United States and its European allies began talks with Tehran to revive the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump had abandoned.

Experts believe Iran has amassed enough fissile material for at least three nuclear bombs so far.

According to the IAEA, Iran has not specified when it will start using the newly installed cascades at Fordow with uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6), nor has it disclosed the intended enrichment level.

Diplomats say Iran added the IR-6 machines in response to a June 5 resolution by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, which called on Tehran to increase cooperation and allow inspectors access again.

The US announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil trade on Thursday, saying it was acting in response to “steps (by Iran) to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose.”

The Fordow plant, near the city of Qom in central Iran, is an underground uranium enrichment facility, built deep inside a mountain to protect it from potential attacks.

Leading expert on nuclear weapons programs, American physicist David Albright has previously said that the Fordow plant started its operations as part of Tehran’s secret weapons program in the early 2000s.

Earlier this month, Albright’s technical analysis projected that Iran will massively increase its ability to produce weapons-grade uranium (WGU) at the heavily fortified Fordow enrichment plant.

The report came in response to Iran's announcement that it would rapidly deploy 1400 advanced centrifuges at the Fordow plant.

At the Fordow plant, he told Iran International previously, the centrifuges, called the IR-6s, is the most advanced centrifuge Iran operates.

The 1,400 advanced machines would increase Fordow’s capacity by 360%, according to Albright.

The plant, he said, is a deeply buried facility that is very hard to destroy.

Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, at two sites: Fordow and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz.