The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says recent exploration of mines around the country shows Iran sits atop significant uranium reserves. In an interview with ICANA on Saturday, Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran has recently made great progress in exploring uranium mines, Press TV reported. “I cannot speak about the level of the country’s uranium reserves. It is noteworthy, however, that before aerial exploration we were not very hopeful. But fortunately following the [recent] explorations, the volume of deposits is promising.” Salehi added that uranium prospecting has so far been conducted on over 63% of the country’s area, expressing hope that the exploration work would be completed within four years. The nuclear chief also said Iran has already started extracting uranium from Saghand mine in the central province of Yazd, adding that uranium extraction is set to begin at a mine in the city of Ardakan in the same province in the near future.
