Iran on Tuesday opened a new uranium mine and a new uranium conversion site, local media said, three days after international talks on its disputed nuclear programme ended without a breakthrough.

The uranium mine Saqand and the conversion plant Rezaeinejad are located in the central Yazd province, state-run news agency IRNA said.

Uranium from the Saqand mine will be processed at the Rezaienejad plant, which has an annual capacity of 60 tons of Yellow Cake, or raw uranium.

The announcement coincided with Iran’s Nuclear Technology Day, IRNA said.

The main uranium conversion plant is in Isfahan, also located in central Iran, near the main enrichment complex of Natanz.

Iran is under sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The West fears Iran has a covert programme to produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic says its programme is peaceful.

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