Iran confirms factory producing centrifuge parts

Ali Akbar Salehi, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, says the facility is no secret and that many other facilities in the country are involved in manufacturing parts for Iran’s nuclear programme.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. File photo: AP.

Iran’s foreign minister has confirmed claims by an exiled Iranian opposition group that a factory west of Tehran is manufacturing centrifuge parts.

Ali Akbar Salehi, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, says the facility is no secret and that many other facilities in the country are involved in manufacturing parts for Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iran has long said it produces centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, a process that the U.N. has demanded Tehran halt.

Two days earlier, the exile Mujahedeen—e Khalq group said its spies identified the factory, called the TABA facility.

Iran says it is building a civilian nuclear power programme, but the U.S. and its allies suspect it seeks the capacity to build nuclear bombs.