TEHRAN, January 3 (RIA Novosti) - Iran will soon start industrial production of nuclear fuel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday.

Iran started up a second experimental chain of 164 centrifuges at its pilot nuclear facility at Natanz in October 2006, and said it will launch a total of 3,000 centrifuges there by next March.

Ahmadinejad said Iran has mastered a nuclear fuel cycle and will soon launch nuclear fuel production on an industrial scale.

Iran has been at the center of international concerns over its nuclear program, which some countries suspect is a covert program to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has consistently denied the claims, and says it needs nuclear power for civilian purposes.

On December 23, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution against Iran for refusing to suspend its nuclear research program. The resolution stipulates that all countries must stop supplying Iran with nuclear technology and materials that could enable the Islamic Republic to proceed with its suspected atomic weapons program.

The Iranian president also said some countries were preventing Iran from assimilating advanced technologies, including the technologies of peaceful atom.