Iran is running more than 3,000 centrifuges used to enrich uranium and is installing more every week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday, in comments likely to fuel Western fears Tehran is seeking an atomic bomb.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.
Diplomats in Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is based, had said Iran’s atomic work appeared to slow this summer and it seemed well short of the 3,000 machines it aimed to have working by the end of July.
They said the slowdown could be due to technical glitches or fear of spurring on world powers to pass a third UN sanctions resolution.
