Iran transfers uranium enrichment activities southwest of Tehran

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran will transfer its 20 percent uranium enrichment activities to the Fordo site, southwest of Tehran, and triple its production capacity, the country's nuclear chief said Wednesday.

"We will transfer the 20 percent enrichment from Natanz to the Fordo site this year, under the supervision of the (International Atomic Energy) Agency," Fereydoon Abbasi Davani was quoted as saying by state television's website.

"We will also triple the (production) capacity. The 20 percent enrichment will not be stopped at Natanz until the production level is three times higher than its current rate," he said, AFP reported.

Revelations in 2009 about the construction of the Fordo plant, near the holy Shiite city of Qom and about 150 kilometers (94 miles) southwest of Tehran, prompted the United Nations to strengthen sanctions against Tehran.

Iran informed the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency in February that the Fordo site was prepared to host centrifuges - machines which enrich uranium at supersonic speed -- and that it would become operational in the summer.