The IAEA informed its members that Tehran told the agency it was installing more cascades at the enrichment facilities in Natanz and Fordow, according to a statement sent to AFP.
A cascade is a series of centrifuges, machines used in the process of enriching uranium. A diplomatic source deemed this development as "moderate," the Western media reported.
The move by Tehran came a week after the agency's board of governors passed a resolution criticising Tehran's lack of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog despite Tehran's warning not to do so. Tehran has insisted that the UN watchdog is influenced by the Western states and issues its resoltions under their pressure.
The motion brought by Britain, France and Germany -- but opposed by China and Russia -- at the IAEA's 35-nation board last week was the first of its kind since November 2022.
The resolution -- which Tehran slammed as "hasty and unwise" -- came amid an impasse over Iran's escalating nuclear activities and as Western powers fear Tehran may be seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim Iran denies.
Iran has called on the IAEA to act technically and not go under the Western states pressures. It has said that the expansion of its nuclear actitivites is in accordance with the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA and its for peaceful purposes. The illegal US withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018 paved the way for Iran to take steps back from the deal in retaliation for the Western states violations of the deal.
KI/FNA1718303558817375465
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