Iran could soon launch sensitive atomic activities in an underground facility deep inside a mountain, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday, a development likely to add to tension between Tehran and the West. Iranian experts have carried out the necessary preparations at Fordow near the holy city of Qom, paving the way for the Islamic state to begin higher-grade uranium enrichment at the site on a former military base.
The machines, equipment and nuclear material needed have been transferred and installed at Fordow, the sources added, suggesting the work itself - until now conducted above ground at another location - could start when Iran takes the decision. It coincides with a period of escalating tension between Western powers and Iran after a UN nuclear watchdog report last month said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon, and that secret research may continue.
The United States and its European allies have seized on the unprecedented document by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ratchet up the sanctions pressure on Iran, one of the world's largest oil producers. Enriched uranium can be used to fuel power plants, which is Iran's stated aim, or provide material for atomic bombs if processed much further, which the West suspects is the country's ultimate intention.
Proliferation expert Shannon Kile noted that Iran earlier this year announced it would shift its most sensitive enrichment activity to Fordow but that the actual start would still be significant. "Obviously, for people who are concerned about Iran's ability to break out and to enrich to weapons-grade this is a pretty good step along that route," said Kile, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Iran's decision last year to raise the level of some enrichment from the 3.5 percent purity needed for normal power plant fuel to 20 percent worried Western states that saw this as bringing it significantly closer to the 90 percent needed for a bomb. Iran says the material will help fuel a research reactor. Iran's main enrichment plant is located near the central town of Natanz. But the country said in June it would shift its higher-grade activity to Fordow, offering better protection from any military attack, and also sharply boost output capacity.
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