U.S. Lawmakers Ban Iran Heavy Water

Date: 27 May 2016 - 20:58

News ID: ۲۷۰۹۹

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran has played down a vote at the U.S. House of Representatives to bar Washington from purchasing heavy water from Iran in the future.
Last month, the U.S. government completed an $8.6-million deal to buy 32 metric tons of heavy water from Iran. On Wednesday, 251 American lawmakers voted for a bill that would prohibit such purchases next year. The measure is yet to be approved by the U.S. Senate.
"The bill would be unimportant even if it is ratified,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a TV interview on Thursday night.
"Essentially, in line with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), neither the U.S. nor any other country is obligated to buy heavy water from Iran,” he said.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia – plus Germany signed an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program known as the JCPOA in Vienna on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks.
Under the deal, which took effect in January, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the UN Security Council and the U.S. would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities.
"Iran is only obligated to offer its surplus of heavy water to international markets for sale,” Araqchi said, adding, "Heavy water is a valuable commodity and there are many who are willing to buy.”
The United States has, subject to the deal, agreed to buy the heavy water from Iran, and the Islamic Republic is in talks with other countries, which would potentially buy 40 more metric tons, the official said.
He said there were attempts underway at promoting Iranophobia by radical forces within the U.S. and the region in order to prevent Tehran from availing itself of the opportunities provided by the JCPOA.
These are the same movements, which tried all they could to prevent the nuclear negotiations from bearing result. Now they have turned their focus onto this issue after their failed sabotage attempts, the Iranian official added.
A report from the UN atomic agency on Friday showed Iran is complying with the July 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s second quarterly assessment since the accord came into force on January 16 showed that Iran was meeting its main commitments.
The report showed that Iran "has not pursued the construction of the existing Arak heavy water research reactor” and has "not enriched uranium” above low levels.
Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium has not risen about the agreed level of 300 kilos (660 pounds).
The level of so-called heavy water has not exceeded the permitted level of 130 tonnes, as it did briefly during the previous reporting period. Verification by the IAEA has continued as agreed.
The IAEA added that "all stored centrifuges and associated infrastructure have remained in storage under continuous Agency monitoring” and no enriched uranium has been accumulated through research and development activities.
The steps taken by Iran under the 2015 deal included slashing by two-thirds its uranium centrifuges, cutting its stockpile of uranium and removing the core of the Arak reactor.
In return for the scaling down of its nuclear activities, UN and Western sanctions were lifted on the Islamic Republic, including on its lifeblood oil exports.
Iran however has complained that major powers have been slow to implement their side of the bargain.
The United States has maintained its "primary” sanctions related to human rights and terrorism charges as well as Iran’s its ballistic missile program.
European banks, which often have subsidiaries on U.S. soil, have therefore been slow to resume business with Iran, fearing prosecution in the United States.
Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on May 21 called on Washington to take "more serious and concrete actions” to alleviate the situation.