Plan to Inject Gas Into New Centrifuge

Iran is preparing to inject uranium hexafluoride into a new Iran-made centrifuge machine, known as IR-8, in the near future, the deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Asghar Zarean, said.

Zarean emphasized that this development will increase Iran’s capability to enrich uranium and remind world powers of how the nation’s capability to replace old centrifuge machines with new ones may also be reflected in their potential capacity to replace their nuclear program, if the 2015 nuclear agreement is breached. “The mechanical tests of IR-8 machine, which has been made by Iranian experts and is fully indigenized, have ended and we will inject uranium gas into a single machine within the framework of the nuclear deal in Natanz and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the very near future,” Zarean said on Wednesday, Sputnik reported citing Fars News Agency. In July 2015, Iran and major powers signed the nuclear deal, under which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The historic accord came into force in January last year.