Iran, Russia Discuss Closer Nuclear Cooperation
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi and Director General of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev exchanged views about ways to promote mutual cooperation in the peaceful nuclear industry.
During the meeting, held in Vienna on Monday, Salehi and Likhachev discussed practical ways to enhance the level of bilateral cooperation as well as better interactions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Iranian nuclear chief arrived in Vienna on Sunday to attend the 63rd IAEA General Conference.
During his stay, Salehi is due to hold talks with some foreign officials participating in the event and deliver a speech at the conference.
The 63rd IAEA General Conference kicked off today, September 16, and will last until Friday, September 20, in Vienna.
Effective implementation of the Safeguards Agreement and using nuclear science and technology to advance the economic development are among topics on agenda of the conference, according to IRNA.
Earlier this month, AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi announced details of the country’s “third step” in reducing commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
He said the reduction of JCPOA commitments related to research and development will facilitate the enrichment of uranium up to a level of 1,000,000 SWU.
Back in July, Iran had declared the second step to reduce its commitments by ramping up the level of uranium enrichment to over 3.67 percent.
Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the nuclear deal but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015, reached a conclusion over the text of the JCPOA.
The accord took effect in January 2016 and was supposed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran all at once, but its implementation was hampered by the US policies and its eventual withdrawal from the deal.
On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear accord.
Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the deal.
However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments, including an unlimited rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.
Kamalvandi recently said that the country’s enriched uranium stockpile has reached 360 to 370 kilograms.