A week after being sent home from Tehran empty-handed, U.N. nuclear inspectors have revealed that Iran has being installing new centrifuges at their main nuclear plant, a clear act of defiance ahead of an upcoming round of talks. The Internal Atomic Energy Agency's lead investigators went to Iran last week to try gain access to the country's largest nuclear facility, but were rebuffed at every turn. IAEA head Herman Nackaerts complained about the lack of cooperation from Iran's nuclear agency, specifically their refusal to let inspections see the Parchin military facility. His report on this latest visit reveals it's actually the Natanz plant that is being upgrade with 180 new centrifuge machines, which would greatly increase Iran's ability to enrich uranium to a point where it can be weaponized.

The new report actually comes just a few days before new six-party talks are set to begin, with Russia, China, and the United States all participating in the negotiations with Iranian officials. Expanding your uranium enrichment capability right before they arrives will help matters much, but at least now they'll have something to talk about.

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Dashiell Bennett