Iran is improving its ability to rapidly enrich uranium by installing a total of nearly 700 advanced enrichment centrifuges this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported Wednesday in Vienna, dpa reported.
Once these machines are started up at Iran's Natanz plant, they could process several times faster than currently operating centrifuges, Vienna-based diplomats have said.
Many countries are concerned that Tehran's leaders might use its enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons, rather than for the officially stated purpose of producing reactor fuel.
The IAEA report also showed that Iran's stock of uranium enriched to a level of around 20 per cent - which could theoretically be processed further for weapons - has not increased significantly since the agency's February report and now stands at 182 kilogrammes.
The Vienna-based nuclear agency also highlighted Iran's ongoing work to complete a new reactor at Arak, which worries Israel and Western countries because it would produce plutonium that also could be used in weapons.
The IAEA said Iran had refused to provide adequate information about Arak, which has had "an increasingly adverse impact" on the agency's ability to conduct meaningful inspections of the site.
The report also note that 10 rounds of talks with Iran since early 2012 have not resulted in an agreement on starting investigations into Iran's alleged nuclear weapons research and development projects.
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