TEHRAN -- The director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says Tehran will pursue development of more nuclear power plants in line with its clean air law and as part of efforts to develop technologies for the field.
Muhammad Eslam said all Iranian nuclear plants must be built along coastal areas in the south and in the Makran region and Hormozgan province, and in the north of the country as well.
Eslami also said locations have been designated for the purpose and the goal is to generate electricity, which is a clean and sustainable source of energy.
Eslami added all these projects will be funded through foreign and domestic investment.
He also said it’s the nation’s adversaries that have reached an impasse, not the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.
Eslami added that Iran has always been sincere in the talks and have followed through on its promises.
He noted that all the West’s intelligence agencies confirmed that Iran does not pursue nuclear arms and that’s why the other parties agreed to sign the JCPOA in 2015.
Eslami slammed the U.S. for leaving the deal, saying not only did Washington leave the JCPOA, but it also prevented others from working with Iran.
U.S. National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said Friday no progress has been made in nuclear negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking to reporters, Kirby asserted that diplomacy toward reviving U.S. participation in the agreement is “not on the agenda” at all.
“There has been no progress on the JCPOA,” Kirby stated, “and we are not looking to make progress on the JCPOA anytime in the near future.”
Kirby’s comments came a month after video emerged of President Joe Biden declaring that the deal “is dead, but we’re not going to announce it”.
Though diplomacy has been sidelined, Kirby claimed that Biden “remains absolutely serious about the national security needs that we have for Iran not to be able to achieve a nuclear weapons capability.”
Iranian officials have time and again noted that Tehran is ready for a deal aimed at reviving the JCPOA and removing sanctions, stressing that the U.S., which withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, should abandon its excessive demands.