Iran's nuclear body said Tuesday it had launched a new "advanced centrifuges" facility to replace one badly damaged by "sabotage" at its main Natanz nuclear fuel plant in July.

"It was decided to create a more modern, larger and more improved station in the heart of the mountains around Natanz, and the implementation of this project has started," Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's atomic agency, said on state television.

"We started the preliminary work by supplying the equipment and setting up a series of production chambers for advanced centrifuges," he added, without giving further details.

Advanced centrifuges are used in the process of uranium enrichment.

Iran said last month that an explosion at its plant in Natanz had been caused by "sabotage".

After the July explosion, Iran sent warnings to Washington and Israel, two countries which accuse Tehran of developing a secret military nuclear programme, claims Iran has always denied.

On Sunday, Iranian atomic energy spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said that after investigations into the Natanz explosion they had identified the "elements" responsible. No further details were given.

The 2015 nuclear agreement has been faltering since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from an international accord that gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

In retaliation to the US withdrawal, the Islamic republic started producing uranium at a higher grade than allowed under the deal.

Last week, the UN's nuclear watchdog said that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium stands at more than ten times the limit set down in the 2015 nuclear deal.

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IAEA inspectors gain access to one of two Iran sites
Vienna (AFP) Sept 4, 2020
The UN's nuclear watchdog said Friday that Iran had granted its inspectors access to one of two sites where undeclared nuclear activity may have taken place in the early 2000s. "Iran provided Agency inspectors access to the location to take environmental samples," an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report seen by AFP said. "The samples will be analysed by laboratories that are part of the Agency's network," it added. One diplomatic source told AFP the results of this analysis could ... read more