Iran’s nuclear program was slowed down but not stopped, deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi clarified in parliament.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, one of the key negotiators in the nuclear accord signed with the P5+1 powers, said on Monday that Iran’s nuclear program will continue, including research and the production of nuclear fuel for six reactors within a 15-year period.
“Most countries’ development plans are for 10 years, but we will probably present a 15-year nuclear development plan to the [UN’s International Atomic Energy] Agency (IAEA), based on which at the end of the program Iran will be producing one million SU’s of nuclear fuel, which will be sufficient for running five to six nuclear reactors,” Araqchi told a parliamentary meeting, the Iranian IRNA news agency reports.
Araqchi faced the Majlis (Iran’s parliament) to answer questions regarding the nuclear deal before they moved to vote on it. He said that in accordance with the agreement, Iran will have restrictions on manufacturing new centrifuges for eight years, but after that, based on its own plans, Iran will begin constructing advanced IR6 and IR8 enrichment machines.
“Meanwhile, between the 14th and the 15th years, we will be producing one million SUs of nuclear fuel, keeping in mind that 190,000 SUs of nuclear fuel is sufficient for running one reactor, and by the end of the 15th year, when our IR8 centrifuges will be working at full capacity, we will be producing fuel for 5 to 6 reactors,” he explained.
Araqchi indicated that the later phases of the program will not be supervised at all and did not fall under the terms of the nuclear deal.
He also stated that in accordance with the agreement made with the IAEA, which has not been made public, Iran’s military sites that are suspected of harboring nuclear activity will not be inspected.
By: United with Israel Staff
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