Iran has increased number of centrifuges at Fordo facility: report

TEHRAN,Nov.15(MNA) – Iran is believed to have increased the number of centrifuges in the underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility by nearly a third in three months, Reuters on Wednesday quoted diplomats as saying. But despite a major expansion of its capacity to refine uranium at the Fordo facility, Iran does not appear to have switched on its newly installed enrichment centrifuges yet, although this could happen soon, they said. A UN report on Iran’s nuclear program is also likely to show this week that it continues to use some of its most sensitive material for reactor fuel, the report said. This could help in “buying more time for dialogue,” a Western diplomat said, referring to international efforts to seek a diplomatic solution to the decade-old dispute and avert the threat of a new Middle East war. It may also explain why Israel, assumed to be the region’s only nuclear-armed state, recently signaled that an attack on Iranian nuclear sites was not imminent, after months of speculation that it might be.