Iran is running more than 3,000 centrifuges used to enrich uranium and is installing more every week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday.
Western experts say 3,000 machines running smoothly for long periods at supersonic speeds could make enough enriched uranium for an atomic bomb in about a year, if Iran wanted, and form the basis for "industrial-scale" production of nuclear fuel.
But an International Atomic Energy Agency report issued on Friday said Iran remained well short of 3,000 centrifuges and that its rate of enrichment was still far below capacity.
The report also indicated the pace of centrifuge installation had slowed markedly since April, when Mr Ahmadinejad first announced "industrial" capacity. Iran has repeatedly dismissed talk of a slowdown.
"We have more than 3,000 centrifuges working and every week a new set is installed," Fars News Agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying.
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, insists its goals are peaceful and says it wants to master technology only to make fuel for a network of atomic power plants it plans.
But Tehran, which hid nuclear work from the IAEA for almost 20 years, has failed to convince big powers of its peaceful intent. The UN Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions since December because Tehran has ignored demands to halt uranium enrichment.