Europeans Seeking to Buy 20 Tons of Heavy Water from Iran: Nuclear Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said certain European countries have voiced readiness to buy 20 tons of heavy water from the Islamic Republic.
Speaking at a ceremony in Qom, a city 150 km south of Tehran, on Tuesday, Salehi pointed to Iran’s plans for the sale of heavy water to foreign countries, saying that Tehran is in talks with Moscow to sell 40 tons of the “strategic product”.
He said that some European countries have also offered to buy 20 tons of heavy water from Iran.
He noted that the country now has the capacity to produce 20 tons of heavy water annually.
Elsewhere, Salehi referred to a deal on selling 32 tons of heavy water to the US, saying that Tehran has set more conditions for the transaction after Washington’s seizure of nearly $2 billion of Iranian assets.
He added that Iran will not deliver heavy water to the US unless it is guaranteed the money will be paid in full.
The US has decided to buy heavy water from Iran in the wake of a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, allows Iran to sell its enriched uranium material -- called UF6 -- and to buy natural uranium or “yellow cake” in return.
All nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran were terminated after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16.
