Russia and Iran have made progress in talks on cooperation in converting Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility into a plant for producing stable isotopes, Russia’s atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced.
Under the July 14 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, the Fordo facility has to be converted into a nuclear, physics and technology center.
According to a press release cited by Sputnik, Rosatom’s international relations officer, Nikolay Spasskiy, and deputy head of Russia’s environmental, technological and nuclear oversight service, Aleksey Ferapontov, met the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, on November 11-12. They also met Iran’s head of nuclear regulatory body, Nasser Rastkhah.
“Questions of implementing a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [the official title of the nuclear accord] were discussed in detail, as provided for by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 [adopted in July to endorse the JCPOA]. We looked into approaches to restructuring the Fordo site for stable isotope production. Signs of real progress were evident,” Rosatom’s statement read.
Iran is now waiting for an assessment by the IAEA over its past nuclear activities due in the coming weeks. Tehran says its nuclear work has been entirely for peaceful applications.
Iran’s relief from sanctions by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union envisaged in the nuclear deal is subject to IAEA’s report on the country’s nuclear past and the agency’s verification that Iran has carried out its commitments under the JCPOA.
