Iran’s nuclear plant at Fordo. (Al-arabiya)
Iran remains steadfast in its refusal to relinquish its ability to race toward the bomb.
By: Atara Beck, World Israel News
Iran will not relinquish its primary nuclear capabilities, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), stated on Saturday, according to the Iranian Fars news agency.
Slehi said that Iran’s red lines for any final nuclear deal with the P5+1 powers remain unchanged, reiterating that Tehran is resolved to keep its Arak heavy water reactor and the Fordo uranium-enrichment plant.
“The function and nature of the Arak heavy-water reactor…will remain unchanged as a heavy water facility,” he asserted.
Referring to the Fordo plant near the city of Qom, he said, “We are determined to make use of this site according to the guidelines of Iran’s Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] and AEOI’s technical needs.”
He underlined that Iran and the P5+1 have not reached a final agreement yet, saying, “Our long-term strategy is to materializing the macro-scale policies specified by the Supreme Leader.”
‘Technical’ Issues Resolved to Iran’s Satisfaction
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi (R) and US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz in Switzerland. (Fars news)
However, Salehi announced last week that the technical issues with regard to Tehran’s nuclear program were resolved in recent talks with US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz in Switzerland, which he described as fruitful.
“We held talks on [uranium] enrichment, Arak research reactor, research and development, Fordo [uranium enrichment facility] and some other smaller issues,” Salehi said. “We took very good steps in issues related to enrichment and Arak reactor and managed to remove their fabricated concerns with the technical proposals that we raised, and we defended our national interests and nuclear industry, which is a great achievement of the AEOI and those dear people who work in it.”
Stressing that the negotiations were balanced, he added, “We can say that the technical deadlocks were removed in the two technical meetings.”