Official says Iran stopped building centrifuges

Published March 29th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

Iran has stopped building centrifuges, which can be used for uranium enrichment, in a bid to win the world's trust over its nuclear program, the head of its Atomic Energy Organization said Monday.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh said the suspension of the construction of centrifuges had been ordered by the Islamic Republic's Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top decision-making body.

Iran suspended uranium enrichment a few months ago under strong international pressure over the aims of its nuclear development plans. But it continued to build centrifuges, which are used in enrichment.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has voluntarily expanded (the enrichment) suspension to include the production of components and assembly," state television quoted Aghazadeh as saying on its Web site.