Energy Agency: Iran has moved a workshop for making centrifuge parts underground in Natanz

The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the new Iranian workshop for manufacturing centrifuge spare parts needed for uranium enrichment in Natanz was established in one of the halls of the underground fuel enrichment plant there.

The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, announced Thursday that a new Iranian workshop for manufacturing centrifuge parts needed to enrich uranium, in Natanz, has been established in one of the halls of an underground fuel enrichment plant there, in an apparent move to protect against attacks.

The workshop uses machines from a currently closed facility in Karaj that was subjected to what Tehran said was a sabotage attack by its archenemy, Israel. And the workshop is able to make key parts for advanced centrifuges among the most efficient in Iran's enrichment programme.

The International Atomic Energy Agency informed its member states two weeks ago that Iran had transferred the machines to Natanz, without specifying the location of the sprawling site that includes an underground fuel enrichment plant where Iran has thousands of centrifuges operating.

Grossi told a news conference that the workshop was held in "one of the halls" of the fuel enrichment facility. Diplomats say the facility is located about three stories underground, apparently to protect it from air strikes.

So far, Iran has only used the fuel enrichment facility for enrichment. It is the only facility where the nuclear agreement with major powers in 2015 allowed Iran to produce enriched uranium from it, but only through the first generation of centrifuges, whose effectiveness is much less than the most advanced Iranian models.

"They said it was ready for operation," said the chief inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Massimo Aparo, of the workshop.