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Iran aims to sharply increase its production of nuclear fuel this year and move some uranium enrichment to a site that had been secret until 2009, news agencies reported Wednesday, citing state media.

The Iranian government plans to triple its output of enriched uranium and will transfer some production from its Natanz site to the newer Fordow site, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, Fereydoon Abbasi, told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting after a cabinet meeting in Tehran. Iran only acknowledged he existence of the Fordow site, built underground in a mountain near the holy city of Qom, in September 2009, after Western spy agencies learned of its location.

Mr. Abbasi said the transfer would be carried out under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Control of nuclear material is one of the cornerstones of the agency’s safeguards against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Abbasi was also quoted by the Fars news agency as saying that Iranian scientists had completed research on a new generation of centrifuges and that th... >>>