No Restriction Put on Iran Nuclear R&D: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi played down concerns a final nuclear deal with six world powers may restrict Tehran’s research and development (R&D) activities in the field of nuclear energy.
Speaking by telephone to a television talk show on Tuesday night, Kamalvandi said the talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) over a lasting deal on Iran’s nuclear program have not included any restriction on the country’s R&D plans.
“There is no reason for concern for the moment, meaning that we face no restriction in research and development,” he stressed.
Kamalvandi, however, noted that it has not been an easy job to safeguard the country’s right to continue R&D activities in its peaceful nuclear program.
“In fact, we had a war for each of the new (centrifuge) machines, namely the IR-5, 6, 7 and 8. We had days of intensive negotiations and 5 or 6-hour-long talks on each of those machines,” he added.
According to Kamalvandi, none of Iran’s nuclear R&D plans will be limited under a possible final nuclear accord.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) have been negotiating over the past 22 months to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's civilian nuclear program once and for all.
Earlier in May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani referred to R&D as a red line for Iran in its nuclear talks with world powers, reaffirming that the country's negotiating team will stick to the lines set by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
