Iran to Buy Uranium Ore From Kazakhstan
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran plans to buy 950 tonnes of uranium ore from Kazakhstan over three years and expects to get Russian help in producing nuclear fuel, its top nuclear official said in remarks published on Saturday.
The acquisition would not violate Iran's landmark 2015 deal with world powers over its nuclear program as the deal did not set limits on the Islamic Republic's supplies of uranium ore.
The report by the Iranian Students' News Agency ISNA comes a day after the UN atomic agency said Iran's official stock of enriched uranium had fallen by half after large amounts stuck in pipes was re-categorized as unrecoverable under a process agreed with the major powers.
"About 650 tonnes is to be delivered in two shipments over two years and 300 tonnes during the third year and this shipment is to be returned to Kazakhstan (after enrichment)," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told ISNA in an interview.
Iran has asked a body overseeing its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers to approve the purchase of uranium ore and was still awaiting Britain's agreement, Salehi said.
"Five of the members of the committee overseeing the (nuclear deal) have given their written approval, but Britain changed its mind at the last moment, considering the U.S. elections and Middle East problems," Salehi said, without elaborating.
There was no immediate reaction from Britain to the report.
"In nuclear talks ... we reached a final agreement on jointly producing nuclear fuel with Russia," Salehi said. "We asked for their help in this regard... and it was agreed for the Russians to give us advisory help."
The nuclear agreement brokered by Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States lifted sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.
Asghar Zare'an, special assistant to the AEOI head, said on February 7 that Iran had received the final consignment of a 149-tonne shipment of uranium from Russia as part of the JCPOA.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
The deal does not set limits on Iran’s supplies of uranium ore.
In its latest quarterly report on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once again confirmed that Iran has lived up to its commitments under the landmark nuclear agreement.
The confidential report said that at under 102 kilograms (225 pounds) Iran is only at about half of its permitted limit of a form of low-enriched uranium, and is not producing higher grades.
The AEOI said on January 28 that Iran had started injecting UF6 into IR-8 centrifuge machines in an important phase of the country’s research and development plans.
Iran has successfully conducted all mechanical tests of the machines over the past three years, the AEOI said, adding that the IR-8 machines have the capacity to enrich uranium some 20 times faster than the IR-1 ones.
The acquisition would not violate Iran's landmark 2015 deal with world powers over its nuclear program as the deal did not set limits on the Islamic Republic's supplies of uranium ore.
The report by the Iranian Students' News Agency ISNA comes a day after the UN atomic agency said Iran's official stock of enriched uranium had fallen by half after large amounts stuck in pipes was re-categorized as unrecoverable under a process agreed with the major powers.
"About 650 tonnes is to be delivered in two shipments over two years and 300 tonnes during the third year and this shipment is to be returned to Kazakhstan (after enrichment)," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told ISNA in an interview.
Iran has asked a body overseeing its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers to approve the purchase of uranium ore and was still awaiting Britain's agreement, Salehi said.
"Five of the members of the committee overseeing the (nuclear deal) have given their written approval, but Britain changed its mind at the last moment, considering the U.S. elections and Middle East problems," Salehi said, without elaborating.
There was no immediate reaction from Britain to the report.
"In nuclear talks ... we reached a final agreement on jointly producing nuclear fuel with Russia," Salehi said. "We asked for their help in this regard... and it was agreed for the Russians to give us advisory help."
The nuclear agreement brokered by Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States lifted sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.
Asghar Zare'an, special assistant to the AEOI head, said on February 7 that Iran had received the final consignment of a 149-tonne shipment of uranium from Russia as part of the JCPOA.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
The deal does not set limits on Iran’s supplies of uranium ore.
In its latest quarterly report on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once again confirmed that Iran has lived up to its commitments under the landmark nuclear agreement.
The confidential report said that at under 102 kilograms (225 pounds) Iran is only at about half of its permitted limit of a form of low-enriched uranium, and is not producing higher grades.
The AEOI said on January 28 that Iran had started injecting UF6 into IR-8 centrifuge machines in an important phase of the country’s research and development plans.
Iran has successfully conducted all mechanical tests of the machines over the past three years, the AEOI said, adding that the IR-8 machines have the capacity to enrich uranium some 20 times faster than the IR-1 ones.