Iran's nuclear bomb plans are moving ahead with "intensity" as the country increases the amount of centrifuges used to make the nuclear fuel, Iran's nuclear chief said, according to an Associated Press report.
Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, made the statement via Iran's state TV. The remarks come after the Associated Press released a report citing a diagram released by an unknown country that shows Iran ran computer simulations for a nuclear weapon that would produce more than triple the explosive force of the World War II bomb. The AP report said the officials provided the diagram only if their country remained anonymous.
The International Atomic Energy Agency - the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog - reported last year that it had obtained diagrams indicating that Iran was calculating the "nuclear explosive yield" of potential weapons, according to the report.
Iran's nuclear bomb threat is likely to escalate tensions between Iran and the West, which fears the enrichment program could lead to possible warhead capabilities. In its defense, Iran says it only seeks to make fuel for energy and research reactors.
The U.N. agency believes Iran is slated to double its output of higher-enriched uranium at its fortified Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility.
The diagram released by the AP has a caption in Farsi which reads "Changes in output and in energy released as a function of time through power pulse." The number "5'' is part of the title, suggesting it is part of a series.
Iran has refused to halt uranium enrichment, despite offers of reactor fuel from abroad, saying it is producing nuclear fuel for civilian uses. It has refused for years to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear agency's efforts to investigate its program.
