TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant, an Iranian lawmaker said Saturday, a day after a senior U.S. diplomat warned that the country’s plans to accelerate its nuclear program “would be a major miscalculation.”

The Iranian lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the installation “stabilizes Iran’s capability in the field of nuclear technology,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

“We are right now installing 3,000 centrifuges,” Mr. Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Large scale use of centrifuges is necessary to enrich enough uranium for use in a nuclear reactor. Highly enriched uranium is required to make nuclear weapons.

Iranian officials had said recently that the country was moving toward large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material.

Mr. Boroujerdi’s comments came a day after U.N. officials said Iran plans to begin work next month on an underground uranium enrichment facility, as part of a plan to create a network of tens of thousands of machines to enrich uranium.

A senior State Department official warned Friday that the move would be a “major miscalculation” by Iran.

“If Iran takes this step, it is going to confront universal international opposition,” said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. “If they think they can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very badly mistaken.”

Iranian officials have said repeatedly that work would start soon on the uranium enrichment facility at its Natanz underground plant. There had been speculation the leadership might launch the project next month to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought the clerical leadership to power.

But the timing of the work may in part be a gesture of defiance. The Security Council’s 60-day deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment runs out next month, paving the way for further sanctions in addition to those imposed by a resolution in December.

Iran ultimately plans to expand its program to 54,000 centrifuges, a large operation more enriching uranium within a shorter period.

America and some of its allies accuse Iran of trying to produce atomic weapons. Iran denies this, saying its program is only for generating electricity, not a bomb.

In enrichment plants, centrifuges are linked in what are called cascades. For now, the only known assembled centrifuge cascades in Iran are above ground at Natanz, consisting of two linked chains of 164 machines each and two smaller setups.