Alwaght- Iran has completed the construction of an advanced factory specializing in the manufacturing of centrifuge rotors in order to enhance its uranium enrichment capacity within the limits set by the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), told the IRIB on Wednesday that the project became operational in line with a recent decree by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to reach 190,000 SWUs (separative work unit) of uranium enrichment capacity.
Salehi said instead of completing the project over the next seven or eight years, the country had been building the facility in the course of the negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear agreement with world countries.
“The factory was, however, not made operational,” said the AEOI chief.
Salehi added that the facility can make rotors for around 60 centrifuges of the IR-6 design on a daily basis, noting that one such centrifuge can provide an enrichment capacity of 10 SWUs.
The official estimated that with this factory, Iran will be able to reach the 190,000-SWU capacity within around 10 months.
“The [Leader] was totally informed and we provided him with the necessary information at the time. And now with his order, this factory has gone on stream,” he added.
The Leader has ordered officials and institutions in charge to prepare to build up the country’s enrichment capacity in case the nuclear deal falls apart now that the US has unilaterally withdrew from the deal.
President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement and that he planned to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
Since the US president pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal, European countries have been scrambling to ensure that Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. The remaining parties have vowed to stay in the accord.
