Iran has started using advanced models of centrifuges to enrich uranium, the UN's nuclear watchdog said Thursday, in a new breach of the faltering 2015 deal with world powers.

Advanced centrifuges at Iran's Natanz facility "were accumulating, or had been prepared to accumulate, enriched uranium", the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report seen by AFP.

The centrifuges concerned are 20 IR-4 centrifuges and a further two "cascades" of 30 IR-6 centrifuges, the report said.

Enriched uranium is needed to produce nuclear fuel, but higher levels of enrichment can also be used to make the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

Iran has always insisted that its nuclear programme is peaceful.

In order to multiply the effects of the enrichment of a single machine, large numbers of centrifuges are interconnected to form cascades.

The IAEA report said that Iran was also pressing ahead with previously reported plans to install further cascades of advanced centrifuges.

Under the 2015 deal with world powers that puts curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, Tehran is only meant to enrich uranium using less efficient IR-1 centrifuges.

The IR-4 and IR-6 models can produce enriched uranium much faster than the IR-1 models.

The landmark accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has been in jeopardy since May last year when President Donald Trump withdrew the US from it and reimposed sanctions.

The remaining parties to the deal with Iran -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- have tried to salvage the accord.

But Tehran has repeatedly accused Europe of not doing enough, leaving it little option but to scale back its commitments under the JCPOA.

A senior diplomat in Vienna, where the IAEA is based, said that the latest change "will increase (Iran's) rate of accumulation" of uranium but cautioned that "it's a small number of centrifuges in small cascades".

The machines in question "are not run for production continuously", the source said.

The diplomat added that there had been "no change" in Iran's level of cooperation with the IAEA, and that the agency continued "to receive access to all the sites" it needed to visit.

Iran has already broken the limits on uranium enrichment levels and the overall stockpile of enriched uranium laid down in the JCPOA.

Iran nuclear deal: developments since US exit
Tehran (AFP) Sept 26, 2019 - Iran's move to fire up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges is another blow to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which has unravelled since the United States unilaterally withdrew in May 2018.

Here are key developments in the bitter standoff.

- US quits -

On May 8, 2018, President Donald Trump announces the US will quit the 2015 pact and reinstate US sanctions on Iran and companies with ties to it.

"We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement," he says.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he is ready to discuss with the remaining parties -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- ways to save the deal.

But he threatens to resume uranium enrichment if the talks fail.

- Sanctions -

In late May, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlines 12 tough conditions from Washington for any "new deal". They include not only new nuclear commitments but also a complete scaling-back of Iran's regional role.

In August and November, Washington reimposes tough sanctions, particularly targeting Iran's oil and finance sectors.

Major international firms halt their activities or projects in Iran.

Trump in May 2019 annuls sanctions exemptions enjoyed by eight countries on oil imports.

- Progressive disengagement -

On May 8, 2019, Iran says it has decided to suspend two commitments it made under the nuclear deal.

Trump announces new measures against Iran's steel and mining sectors.

Tehran has so far respected its commitments under the deal, according to the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

But Iran announces on July 1 that it has exceeded the 300-kilogramme limit on its enriched uranium reserves set by the accord.

On the 7, Tehran confirms that it has breached the accord's uranium enrichment cap of 3.67 percent.

It threatens to abandon more commitments after 60 days unless a solution is found.

A day later it says it has enriched uranium to 4.5 percent.

- Diplomatic coup -

On August 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif makes a surprise appearance on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Biarritz at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Trump says he would be prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart Rouhani "if the circumstances were correct".

The Iranian president tells Washington to "take the first step" by lifting all sanctions.

On September 4, Rouhani tells the cabinet he does not think there will be a deal, shortly after the US imposes further sanctions.

- Escalation -

On September 14, a wave of aerial attacks claimed by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels sparks fires at two major Saudi oil facilities.

Tehran, which denies involvement, is accused by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany of being responsible.

The crisis revives fears of a military confrontation between the US and Iran.

It comes after Trump said in June he had approved a retaliatory strike after Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a US drone, but cancelled it at the last minute.

- Uranium enrichment -

Rouhani on September 25 rules out negotiations with the United States so long as sanctions are in place.

The next day, the IAEA says Iran has started using advanced models of centrifuges to enrich uranium.

But Rouhani says Iran would "of course" hold talks with the US if Trump lifts sanctions and ends his policy of maximum pressure on Tehran.

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