In ‘great stride,’ Iran starts making centrifuge parts at new Natanz workshop

In a “great stride,” Iran has started production of spare parts for uranium enrichment centrifuges at a newly-opened workshop in the central city of Natanz using machines moved there from a site near Tehran, a report says.

The Nour News website, which is affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), reported Thursday that the machines especially designed for making centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows started operating at the Natanz workshop, after the seals placed on them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were removed.

The machines were moved to the site in the wake of a sabotage attack on the Karaj facility, widely attributed to Israel, in June.

“This important and strategic action, taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran amid the negotiations for the removal of the cruel sanctions, should be described as a decisive stride on the path toward increasing the degree of protection and security at nuclear sites and relevant industries,” the report said.

In recent years, the report added, certain “evil moves” by Israel, which it claimed implicitly, caused some damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, amid the IAEA’s lack of sensitivity toward its responsibility for safeguarding the countries’ peaceful nuclear programs.

Although such Israeli moves have failed to hinder the progress of Iran’s nuclear work, the officials with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) have placed on their agenda a set of new strategies concerning the structures, software, and hardware to ensure full security of nuclear sites, Nour News added.

It said despite all the technical complexities and the necessity of coordination with the IAEA, the process of transferring the machinery to Natanz was carried out “at a fast pace and with notable accuracy.”

“This precious action taken by Iran’s atomic organization bears a firm and clear message for ill-wishers and masterminds of sinister acts against Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities,” it said.

The measure also “showed off the speed and creativity of Iranian nuclear experts in reacting to “soft and hard threats” in line with the strategy of not tying the country’s affairs to talks with foreigners, announced by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

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