Iran signals nuclear work expansion and rules out halt

By Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran is now running 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, a senior official said on Wednesday, signalling an expansion of work the West fears is aimed at making nuclear weapons.

The comments by the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, spelled out once again that the Islamic Republic has no intention of bowing to Western pressure to halt or freeze its disputed nuclear program.

They also underlined the challenge facing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who after his election victory this month called for an international effort to stop Tehran developing a nuclear bomb, saying this was "unacceptable."

The number of centrifuges given by Aghazadeh was higher than a figure of 3,800 such machines the U.N. nuclear watchdog cited in a November 19 report, which was based on a visit by its inspectors to Iran's Natanz enrichment plant on November 7.

It also said Iran was busy installing another 2,200 machines, with the introduction of 3,000 due to be begin early next year.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have in the past differed in estimates of Iran's nuclear program.

As Iran builds up centrifuge capacity, analysts believe it could be as little as one or two years from stockpiling enough enriched uranium to use for a bomb, if Tehran so chose.

"Now we have 5,000 running centrifuges," Aghazadeh told the official IRNA news agency. Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Sheikh Attar said in August that Iran had 4,000 working centrifuges.