Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Currently Installing 3,000 Uranium Enrichment Centrifuges

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****Update 21:35 PST AP is reporting that Iran Nuclear Agency is denying the installation of new centrifuges****

An Iranian nuclear agency official has denied claims made by a top lawmaker that the Islamic Republic had begun installing 3,000 centrifuges at an uranium enrichment plant,
Iran’s state-run news agency reported late Saturday.

Hossein Simorgh, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization public relations department, said “no new centrifuges have been installed in Natanz,” referring to the nuclear facility in central Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Earlier Saturday, lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iran was currently installing the 3,000 centrifuges, underlining that the country would continue to develop its disputed nuclear program despite U.N. sanctions.

OOOPSSSS does Iran have their own Baghdad Bob here?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks to journalists in Tehran, 21 January 2007. The United States warned Iran of “universal” opposition if it proceeds with plans to beef up its nuclear capacity by installing at least 3,000 centrifuges at a key atomic plant.

AP: Defiant Iran says nuke program continues

Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges, a top lawmaker said Saturday in an announcement underlining that the country will continue to develop its nuclear program despite U.N. sanctions.

The lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the installation under way at an Iranian uranium enrichment plant “stabilizes Iran’s capability in the field of nuclear technology,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Three inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who arrived in Iran on Saturday are scheduled to visit the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, Iranian state television reported.

Iran again POKES the United Nations Security council in the eye as a direct affront to United Nations Resolution 1737.

Does Iran think the United States and Israel will sit idly by?

Apparently……Paper Tigers……

Iranian officials had said in recent weeks that the country was moving toward large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material.

The comments from Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, came a day after IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said he believed Iran planned to begin work in February on a uranium enrichment facility underground. The subterranean facility is intended to protect the nuclear project from attack.

There had been speculation the leadership might launch the project at Natanz next month to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought the clerical leadership to power.

And the United States reaction:

A senior State Department official warned Iran against accelerating its atomic program. “If Iran takes this step, it is going to confront universal international opposition,” Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said on Friday. “If they think they can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very badly mistaken.”

The “NUCLEAR POINT OF NO RETURN” is now.

The question is not whether the United States and/or Israel will launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but when.

Stay tuned……