Iran’s exact centrifuge count changes often, and public estimates vary by source and by whether you mean installed or operating machines. A recent source says Iran had installed 42 cascades of operating IR-1 centrifuges , 37 cascades of IR-2 centrifuges with 15 operating , 13 cascades of operating IR-4 centrifuges , and 15 cascades of IR-6 centrifuges with 7 operating as of November 2024, while another source gives older totals of 18,458 IR-1 deployed and 9,842 operating plus 1,008 IR-2 installed.

What that means

  • Installed means centrifuges are in place.
  • Operating means they are actively enriching uranium.
  • The total depends on whether you count only working machines, all installed machines, or all models combined.

Best current answer

If you want the simplest short answer, Iran has many thousands of centrifuges, and recent public reporting indicates a mix of older IR-1 machines and newer advanced models. The most defensible public estimate from the sources here is that Iran has at least tens of thousands installed across its enrichment program , with a smaller subset operating at any given time.

Important caveat

Because Iran’s program is monitored imperfectly and changes quickly, any exact figure can become outdated fast. Different reports may count cascades, individual machines, or only active machines, so the number can look very different depending on the method.

TL;DR: Iran’s centrifuge count is not a single fixed number, but recent public reporting puts it at many thousands , with thousands operating and additional advanced machines installed.