JAKARTA - Iran is working on advanced uranium centrifuges at a new underground site under construction near the Natanz nuclear plant, Israel's defense minister said on Tuesday, giving figures that appear to surpass those published by the United Nations watchdog.
Centrifuges are used to purify uranium for civilian projects or, to a higher degree, to make bomb fuel. Iran's progress on the ground is being watched by world powers, which are trying to revive the nuclear deal with Tehran, denying it has a military design.
"Iran is working to complete the manufacture and installation of an additional 1,000 IR6 centrifuges at its nuclear facilities, including a new facility under construction at an underground site bordering Natanz", Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, said in a speech at Reichman University near Tel Aviv as reported by Reuters on May 17.
In his remarks, Minister Gantz alluded to Israel's long-standing threat to take military action, if diplomacy was deemed to be at a stalemate to deny its arch-foe a nuclear weapon.
"The costs of such future wars, which we hope will not occur, can be prevented or reduced by tougher negotiations by world powers", he explained.
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Meanwhile, a UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report dated March 3 said Iran had installed or planned to install a total of three IR6 cascades, totaling about 660 machines.
Separately, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi last month said Iran had set up a new underground workshop to manufacture centrifugal parts, a real precaution against attacks.
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