Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that his country had started the installation of 3,000 centrifuges in uranium enrichment facilities in central Iran, the local Fars news agency reported.

"Iran has started installing 3,000 centrifuges," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

The president described the measure as a long stride towards production of nuclear fuel for the country's nuclear power plants and facilities, saying Iran would "produce its own nuclear fuel once we install 60,000 centrifuges."

Uranium enrichment activities, which Iran claimed for generating electricity while the West feared might be used to make nuclear weapons, were the main sticking point in the nuclear standoff between Iran and the international community.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says it needs to enrich uranium as a peaceful, alternative energy source and has the right to do so under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) .

However, the West has accused Iran of trying to produce nuclear weapons under a civilian cover, a charge denied by Tehran.

Due to Iran's resistance to suspend uranium enrichment, the European countries and the U.S. have been seeking a UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Tehran.

Source: Xinhua