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Iranian official: 'We hold possession of 950 tons of uranium'

July 19, 2018 at 5:59 am

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday that his country owns about 950 tons of uranium reserves.

“We currently have between 900 and 950 tons of uranium reserves,” he said during a speech he delivered on Iranian official TV channel in which he talked about his country’s nuclear program.

Salehi pointed out that this amount of uranium is sufficient for the nuclear program of his country in light of its long-term goals.

He equally noted the completion of the construction of a facility to produce the necessary “circulation spare parts” for the production of advanced centrifuges, under the directives of the country’s Supreme Leader  Ali Khamenei.

Salehi said a uranium hexafluoride gas plant was being built at a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan to increase gas reserves used as raw material in centrifuges at the uranium enrichment plant.

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He stressed that all these activities are being undertaken in accordance with the P5+1 nuclear deal.

The joint comprehensive action plan signed between Iran, the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council, and Germany in 2015, allows Tehran to continue its uranium enrichment activities by 3.67 per cent.

Iran had been enriching uranium by 20 per cent before signing the deal, from which the United States has recently withdrawn.

It is worth mentioning that uranium should be enriched by 90 per cent to reach the production phase of nuclear weapons.

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