Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that Iranian technicians had pieced together a second "cascade" of 164 centrifuges -- the devices that spin at high speed and turn ordinary uranium into a fuel usable for nuclear power plants -- "and are days away from using the cascade to enrich uranium."

ElBaradei said in a brief interview that "based on our most recent inspections, the second centrifuge cascade is in place and ready to go."

He said that no uranium had yet been entered into the new system, but could be as early as next week.

U.S. intelligence officials think that Iran is at least four to nine years away from gaining the technical capability to produce enough nuclear material for a single weapon, the paper said.

European officials suggest the latest move is political and Iranian officials are hoping to send a defiant message to the U.N. Security Council as it weighs possible sanctions, it added.

The Bush administration has dismissed Iran's energy claims and thinks it will secretly build nuclear weapons under the cover of engergy needs.

Iran has insisted that it does not intend to build a weapon, but ignored an Aug. 31 deadline, set by the Security Council, to stop enriching uranium.