Tehran (dpa) \u2013 Iran wants to complete the controversial Arak heavy water reactor \u00abwithout delay,\u00bb according to its nuclear chief.<\/p>\n
\u00abThe Arak project must be completed and put into operation immediately with local technology and by local experts,\u00bb vice president and nuclear chief Mohammed Eslami said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Eslami visited the nuclear plant in central Iran and discussed the reconstruction of the reactor with local experts, according to the ISNA news agency. <\/p>\n
The heavy water reactor has been highly controversial in recent years because Iran could use the plutonium produced there to build nuclear bombs.<\/p>\n
To clear up this disputed point, Iran started the reconstruction after the Vienna nuclear agreement of 2015. Instead of 10 kilograms of plutonium per year, less than 1 kilogram were produced in Arak after the agreement, according to Iranian data.<\/p>\n
Now, however, the new Iranian government of President Ebrahim Raisi wants to put the Arak heavy water reactor back into operation.<\/p>\n
Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian have stressed several times that Iran will only comply with its obligations if the nuclear agreement is implemented in accordance with the treaty and, in particular, if the new US sanctions are lifted.<\/p>\n
Tehran would also resume nuclear negotiations in Vienna, but is demanding the release of at least parts of its frozen bank accounts abroad in advance. <\/p>\n
Negotiations on saving the 2015 Vienna nuclear deal with Iran, which resumed in April, were suspended after the presidential election in June and the change of government in Tehran.<\/p>\n
China, Germany, France, Britain and Russia are seeking a US return to the 2015 agreement, while also bringing Iran back into compliance with the parts of the deal that it violated since the US pulled out.<\/p>\n
Then-US president Donald Trump had unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2018, renewed the economic sanctions on Iran and also blocked the country’s foreign accounts.<\/p>\n
The sanctions plunged Iran into the worst economic crisis in its history.<\/p>\n
By Farshid Motahari, dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran (dpa) \u2013 Iran wants to complete the controversial Arak heavy water reactor \u00abwithout delay,\u00bb according to its nuclear chief. \u00abThe Arak project must be completed and put into operation immediately with local technology and by local experts,\u00bb vice president and nuclear chief Mohammed Eslami said on Monday. Eslami visited the nuclear plant in central […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1097055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1099647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t