Development of Nuclear Technology Inevitable: Iran’s Salehi

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi highlighted the importance of peaceful nuclear technology and said using and developing the technology is inevitable.

Speaking to Tasnim, Spokesman for the Independent Velayee Faction Mehrdad Baouj Lahouti gave some details about a closed door meeting between Salehi and the faction’s members on Sunday.

“In order to continue generating energy for future generations, the use of nuclear technology and its development is inevitable,” Baouj Lahouti quoted Salehi as saying in the meeting.

“We should continue on this path. This technology is of high importance for the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Salehi added, according to the MP.

The Iranian nuclear chief further pointed to Iran’s moves to reduce its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said steps to scale back the commitments are underway.

The remarks came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently held a special meeting at Washington’s request to win the Board of Governors’ support for its anti-Iran claims about the JCPOA.

The emergency meeting of the 35-member Board of Governors of the IAEA was held in Vienna to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, which wrapped up with no conclusion.

The meeting came a few days after Iran increased the level of its uranium enrichment to 4.5%, which is beyond the limit set by the JCPOA. The move was part of the second phase of the country’s May 8 decision to reduce its commitments under the multilateral 2015 nuclear deal in reaction to the US violations and Europe’s inaction.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA.

Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the JCPOA after the US withdrawal, but the three EU parties to the deal (France, Britain, and Germany) have failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.

The EU’s inaction forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments to the nuclear deal, including a rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.

Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the JCPOA but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.