Distrustful of US, Iran Won’t Deliver Heavy Water if Not Paid: Nuclear Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said that given Washington’s unreliable conduct and seizure of Iran’s assets, Tehran will not deliver a cargo of heavy water it has sold the US unless it is guaranteed the money will be paid in full.
Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Monday, Salehi said he has ordered a halt to the export of the heavy water cargo to the US.
If the heavy water shipment was dispatched to the US, Washington could confiscate the cargo and at the same time refuse to pay for it, he explained.
Salehi said Tehran’s deep distrust of the US, particularly after confiscation of some $2 billion of the Central Bank of Iran’s assets in an American bank, made Iran stop sending the heavy water until doubts are removed about the payment and other issues.
The US has agreed to buy 32 tons of heavy water from Iran in the wake of a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, allows Iran to sell its enriched uranium material -- called UF6 -- and to buy natural uranium or “yellow cake” in return.
All nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran were terminated after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16.
Elsewhere in his comments on Monday, Salehi said Iran is in talks with Russia on the sale of 40 tons of heavy water.
Negotiations with Moscow are still underway but a sale contract has not been finalized yet, he added.