TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - An Iranian news agency says that the country has started using new advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment site.

The semiofficial Fars agency reported Wednesday that a "new generation of Iranian centrifuges" had been installed and operated at the Natanz site in the center of the country.

Iran the same day announced that it had begun loading domestically made nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran research reactor, a defiant move in response to toughening Western sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.

The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it's geared for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.