Iran cautious in selling heavy water to US

Ali Akbar Salehi made the remark on the sidelines of the 40th Annual Congress of the Iranian Association of Surgeons in Tehran on Tuesday, adding “negotiations for selling heavy water to the US is in progress, and we are trying to determine the exact method of payment.”

“The plan had been first to transfer the heavy water to the US, but the legal scandal that happened in the Supreme Court on the seizure of $2bn Iranian assets made us extra cautious in making deals with the Americans,” he explained.

Elsewhere, Salehi referred to the recent achievements of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, saying “in the past two or three years, we delivered popular centrifuges to the Ministry of Health, and this year, we delivered zonal and ultracentrifuges which have uses in production of recombinant drugs, protein purification, RND and DNA.”

“We produce over 20 different diagnostic and therapeutic radio kits and deliver them to 150 medical services centers across the country,” he added.

“Furthermore, we have invested USD8,240,000 in GMP and GPP so that we can produce radiopharmaceuticals in the form of GMP,” said Salehi. “The center will be launched this year.”

The AEOI head then referred to his recent trips to Europe, adding “last week, we held talks with specialists from the Czech Republic and Slovakia on nuclear cooperation. The Czech Republic in particular has a good record in nuclear industry and is capable of manufacturing all equipment from the start to the end.”

Salehi added that Iran has held negotiations with these countries over the construction of the next nuclear power plants.

“In Austria, I had an extensive session with Mr. Amano in which we warned against one-sided interpretations of the nuclear deal,” he said, adding “fortunately, the language of the JCPOA is in clear English and leaves no room for misunderstanding.”

Salehi also announced that the country is in talks with the Russian side over heavy water sales.

/SR