Iran is preparing to inject uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into a a new generation IR8 Iran-made centrifuge machine, according to the Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Asghar Zarean. 

Zarean emphasised that this Iran’s capability to enrich uranium and to replace old centrifuge machines with new ones may also be reflected in its potential capacity to reactivate their nuclear programme if the July 2014 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed with Russia, China, the UK, the USA, France and Germany, were violated.

"The mechanical tests of IR8 machine which has been made by Iranian experts and is fully indigenised have ended and we will inject uranium gas into a single machine within the framework of the nuclear deal in Natanz and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the very near future," Zarean said on 18 January.