Mr Rouhani made his alarming revelation while speaking to Iranian expats during a meeting Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In accordance with the landmark Joint Plan of Comprehensive Agreement (JPOCA), Iran is committed to strict limits on uranium enrichment.
However, Mr Rouhani boasted about the success of Iran’s centrifuge model and the testing of a new prototype, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
He said: “We have had great achievements and today, Iranian new IR-6 centrifuges are working and models IR-9 are currently being tested.”
US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal earlier this year, citing repeated violations, and imposing stringent sanctions targeting the country’s oil exports.
Last month, Iran started injecting uranium into more than one thousand centrifuges at a nuclear facility built inside a mountain, which nuclear watchdogs have described as a “fortified, underground bunker.”
The move represents a direct breach of the JPOCA rules, with Tehran saying it would halt the process if other signatories to the deal found a way to allow Iran to sell oil on foreign markets.
Iran is currently enriching uranium up to 4.5 percent, above the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the JPOCA, but well below weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
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Mr Rouhani also accused the US of using economic sanctions as the “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” of other nations.
Mr Rouhani will now move on to Japan, where he will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as the Asian country, a US ally, looks to resolve Tehran’s ongoing nuclear impasse with Washington.
Japan maintains friendly ties with both the United States and Iran and has previously tried to ease tensions between the two countries, which severed diplomatic relations after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah.
Tensions have heightened between Tehran and Washington since last year when President Donald Trump pulled out the United States from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and re-imposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
“Our country will persistently continue to support diplomatic efforts in cooperation with the United States, Iran and various other related countries aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East.”
He said the two leaders will meet tomorrow.
Mr Rouhani plans to tell Abe that the Iranian government would not oppose a deployment of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East, Kyodo news agency reported, citing a source.
Iran has rejected the presence of foreign forces in the region, saying it would create insecurity for oil and shipping.
Kyodo said the Japanese deployment will be sent to the Gulf of Oman, the northern part of the Arabian Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, citing a draft plan.
Tokyo has decided not to be part of a US-led coalition to ensure maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital gateway for the world’s oil industry, the news agency added.