Iran has installed 1,600 atomic centrifuges-report

TEHRAN, May 17 (Reuters) Iran has installed 1,600 centrifuges used for enriching uranium and is pressing ahead with more as part of its nuclear programme, a senior Iranian official was quoted today as saying.

The figure confirms what diplomats who follow Iran's case have been saying about the number installed so far. Iran has said it is setting up 3,000 of the machines which can make fuel for nuclear power plants or, if desired, material for warheads.

Iran insists its plans are peaceful, although Western capitals say Tehran's goal is nuclear bombs.

''Iran is installing 3,000 centrifuges in the Natanz facility and currently has 1,600 active centrifuges,'' Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying by Iran's Mehr News Agency.

Natanz is in central Iran.

With 3,000 centrifuges, all running smoothly, Iran could make enough material for at least one warhead in a year, Western diplomats say. But they have said the country has faced technical glitches with smaller numbers hampering the work.

Iran has said its goal to build more than 50,000 centrifuges.

The UN Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran since December after Tehran failed to heed a demand to halt the sensitive nuclear work. The United States has threatened a third round of sanctions if Iran does not stop.

''We have been able to control and manage (the impact of) sanctions,'' Rahmani-Fazli said.

Iranian officials regularly brush off the effect of the UN measures, even though economists say it is deterring foreign and Iranian investors.

Reuters PB DB2129