The Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern I
The Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern IAFP/Mehr News/File

A new United Nations nuclear watchdog report is to reveal that Iran has completed installation of 2,700 centrifuges at its underground Fordo plant, enabling it to speed up production of 20 percent pure enriched uranium that could be used for manufacturing a nuclear weapon.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in August that approximately 700 of 2000 centrifuges were in operation, but it will report a dramatic increase in production on Friday according to AFP.

The Fordo uranium enrichment facility has been built under concrete bunkers and is buried deep in a mountain range, making it almost invulnerable to an aerial attack.

Despite the rapid advancement in Iran’s nuclear program, the major world powers, known as “P5+1 – the Us, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany –  still are planning more attempts at diplomatic talks.

President Barack Obama has said that sanctions are harming the Iranian economy and are sending a strong message to Iran to start cooperating with the IAEA, which has not succeeded to adequately inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities to ascertain that it is not aiming for a nuclear weapon to carry out its stated desire to annihilate Israel.

Aerial surveillance has proven that Iran has been conducting “clean-up” operations to sanitize areas around the nuclear plants in an apparent attempt to hide evidence of a nuclear bomb program. 

In the meantime, Iran continues to stockpile 20-percent uranium, a level that can be surpassed when all the centrifuges are operating.

Despite the Ahmadinejad regime’s insistence that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, the IAEA has noted that it is not able to rule out that Iran has nuclear power ambitions.