Iran to Revive Old Reactor in Arak if UK Fails to Meet Obligations: AEOI
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi deplored the British government’s slow pace in the process of redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor and said if the UK continues the slow pace, Iran will revive the old reactor.
“Britain replaced the United States in the Arak heavy water reactor’s redesign project,” Kamalvandi said in remarks released on Monday.
The UK always claim that it is able to “fill the vacuum” left by the US in the redesign project, he said, adding that Iran gave a list of equipment needed to redesign the Arak reactor to assess the British claim to support the redesigning of the reactor.
The spokesman further said that although Britain took some good steps to redesign the Arak reactor, its measures have slowed down due to US pressures.
If the UK moves to redesign the Arak reactor continue with a slow pace, Iran will go to the old reactor and revive it, he warned.
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 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (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.