MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) – The Islamic Republic of Iran has a total of 18,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment, including 10,000 ones which are already active, the ISNA news agency has reported citing the country's outgoing nuclear chief.
"At the beginning of the month of Mordad (from July 23) we had 17,000 first generation centrifuges, of which more than 10,000 are active and 7,000 ready to start work," said Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani,outgoing head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
Some 1,000 second generation centrifuges have also been installed and are ready to start work, he said.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in May that Iran had installed 17,600 centrifuges, including 16,590 first generation and 1,000 second generation.
Western countries suspect Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons capability, a claim Iran has consistently denied. Tehran claims it needs atomic technology for producing electricity, although it has some of the world's largest reserves of oil and gas.
