IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports: 180 centrifuges hooked up at Natanz, Iran’s main uranium enrichment plant; Prime minister calls findings “very grave.”

“This is a very grave report which proves that Iran is continuing to makerapid progress toward the red line that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sketched in his 27 September 2012 UN speech,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

“Today, Iran is closer than ever to achieving enriched material for a nuclear bomb. Preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons is the first subject that Prime Minister Netanyahu will discuss with U.S. President Barack Obama during the latter’s expected visit in less than a month,” added the statement.

In his speech to the UN in September, Netanyahu drew an actual red line with a marker on a chart symbolizing Iran’s uranium enrichment program, and explained that Iran must be told that if it reaches enough uranium enriched to the 90% level in order to make a nuclear bomb, it will be attacked.

According to the report, 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been hooked up at the plant near the central town of Natanz. They were not yet operating. Such machines could enable Iran to significantly speed up its accumulation of material that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.

It was not clear how many of the new centrifuges Iran aims to install at Natanz, which is designed for tens of thousands.

(IsraelNationalNews.com and Jpost.com)