An Iranian lawmaker has dismissed claims about the closure of Fordow nuclear facility, stressing that enrichment of uranium to 20 percent is currently underway at the site.

Nuclear activities at Fordow site (located near the city of Qom) are currently carried out completely and without any problem, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Esmaeil Kowsari said on Monday.

A team of Iranian lawmakers, headed by Chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi inspected the nuclear enrichment facilities at Fordow on Monday.


“During the visit, we saw that centrifuges which should have been installed at the Fordow site have been installed completely,” Kowsari said.

He added that the lawmakers will also inspect Natanz facility in the future.

Iranian legislator, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, said on Sunday that the visit by the lawmakers to nuclear enrichment facilities in Fordow and Natanz in central Iran is on a periodic basis.

In August, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi said the Islamic Republic has a total of 18,000 centrifuges, 10,000 of which are currently running.

“Nearly 9,000 centrifuges at Natanz enrich uranium below five-percent grade and more than 700 centrifuges at Natanz and Fordow enrich uranium to 20-percent level simultaneously,” Abbasi added.

Iran decided to enrich uranium to the 20-percent level to provide fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients, after potential suppliers failed to provide the Islamic Republic with the required uranium.

The US, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Tehran has categorically rejected the allegation, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

HK