Iran Building New Production Hall for Centrifuges in Mountains near Natanz

Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi. (Reuters)
Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi. (Reuters)
TT

Iran Building New Production Hall for Centrifuges in Mountains near Natanz

Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi. (Reuters)
Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi. (Reuters)

Iran has begun to build a hall in “the heart of the mountains” near its Natanz nuclear site for making advanced centrifuges, Iran’s nuclear chief said on Tuesday, aiming to replace a production hall at the facility hit by fire in July.

Iran said at the time that the fire was the result of sabotage and had caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges.

“Due to the sabotage, it was decided to build a more modern, larger and more comprehensive hall in all dimensions in the heart of the mountain near Natanz. Of course, the work has begun,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, according to state TV.

Natanz is the centerpiece of Iran’s enrichment program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes. Western intelligence agencies and the UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) believe Iran had a coordinated, clandestine nuclear arms program that it halted in 2003. Tehran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons.

The Natanz uranium-enrichment site, much of which is underground, is one of several Iranian facilities monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog.

A confrontation between arch foes Tehran and Washington has worsened since 2018, when US President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

Under the deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions. In reaction to US sanctions, Tehran has gradually distanced itself from the nuclear pact.



NATO Boss Held Talks with Trump in Florida, Alliance Says

FILE PHOTO: New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a press conference, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a press conference, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
TT

NATO Boss Held Talks with Trump in Florida, Alliance Says

FILE PHOTO: New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a press conference, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a press conference, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met US President-elect Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, a spokesperson for the transatlantic military alliance said on Saturday.
"They discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance," the spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah, said in a brief statement.
On its website, NATO said Rutte and his team also met with Congressman Mike Waltz, Trump's pick to be his national security adviser when he returns to the White House, and other members of the president-elect's national security team.
On Friday, NATO did not respond to requests for comment on Dutch media reports that Rutte - a former prime minister of the Netherlands - had flown to Florida on a Dutch government plane to meet Trump.
Rutte, who took office as NATO chief last month, was widely regarded as one of the best European leaders at forging a good working relationship with Trump during his first, 2017-21 term as US president.