MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran’s nuclear program requires 190,000 centrifuges to be realized, AFP reported Tuesday.
"Their aim is that we accept a capacity of 10,000 separative work units, which is equivalent to 10,000 centrifuges of the older type that we already have. Our officials say we need 190,000 centrifuges. Perhaps not today, but in two to five years that is the country´s absolute need," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on his website.
Earlier, Iran insisted on 50,000 centrifuges for its nuclear program. The country currently has 19,000 centrifuges of which 10,000 are operating. The West says the number should be reduced to only a few thousand.
During the sixth round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of international mediators that started on July 2, the media reported that Tehran, behind closed doors, declared its readiness to agree to lower the number of centrifuges, but that it was not enough to satisfy the Western side.
The current Vienna talks between Iran and the six world powers – the US, UK, France, Germany, Russian and China – could reach an agreement as soon as July 20, under which Tehran would guarantee peaceful usage of its nuclear program in exchange for the gradual lifting of international sanctions against the country.
