AEOI Chief: Iran no longer willing to sell heavy water to US, in Talks with Russia on Exports of Heavy Water.

AEOI Chief: Iran no longer willing to sell heavy water to US, in Talks with Russia on Exports of Heavy Water. (Iranfrontpage).

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi announced that his country is holding talks with the Russians to sell them 40 tons of its excess heavy water.

“Negotiations in this regard are underway and (the results) will be announced in due time,” Salehi said on Tuesday May 10.

Also asked about the latest developments in heavy water sales to the US, he said, “The heavy water supply was due to be delivered to the US, but we exercised caution after the US blocked $2bn of Iran’s assets (referring to a recent court ruling by the US Supreme Court which authorized the transfer of $2bn of Tehran’s frozen assets to the families of the victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut).”

“As long as this issue is not resolved, we will negotiate over the ways of payment (for the heavy water supply to the US) and other things in a bid to gain confidence,” Salehi said.

His remarks came after Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari announced last week that Tehran will dispatch its cargo of heavy water to the US only when Washington makes the payment.

“The United States showed an illogical and illegal attitude towards the seizure of Iran Central Bank’s assets under the recent US court ruling and it ruined the Islamic Republic’s trust in the US actions,” Jaberi Ansari told reporters in Tehran.

Noting that the AEOI is responsible for the heavy water contract with the US, he said, “All necessary executive measures have been planned by the Organization to ensure that it receives its money, and the AEOI will pursue the case in a way that the agreement and contract is implemented properly.”

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U.S. may press Iranian regime to dismantle part of Arak Nuclear reactor.

U.S. may press Iranian regime to dismantle part of Arak Nuclear reactor.(NCRI).

 (Reuters) - A top U.S. diplomat suggested on Wednesday the United States may press Iran to agree to dismantle part of its Arak nuclear reactor in a comprehensive agreement to rein in Tehran's atomic program.

Under an interim deal agreed between Iran and six world powers last month, Iran is to shelve fuel production for six months at Arak, an unfinished heavy-water research reactor which Western countries say Tehran could use to produce plutonium for atomic bombs. Iran says the reactor is for medical isotopes.

A comprehensive agreement "includes a lot of dismantling of their infrastructure," Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said on PBS Newshour, speaking about a final deal with Iran.

"Because, quite frankly, we're not quite sure what you need a 40-megawatt heavy water reactor - which is what Arak is - for any civilian peaceful purpose."

Sherman was a key negotiator of the landmark nuclear deal agreed in Geneva last month.

The uncompleted research reactor had emerged as one of several big stumbling blocks in the marathon negotiations, in which Iran agreed to restrain its atomic activities for six months in return for limited sanctions relief. The agreement is intended to buy time for talks on a final settlement.

An operational reactor at Arak could be a source of plutonium - one of two materials, along with highly enriched uranium, that can be used for the core of a nuclear weapon.

Iran said it will pursue construction at the Arak reactor during the interim deal, though it would not increase the site's capacity, or produce new nuclear fuel.

The interim agreement from last month says a final deal must "fully resolve concerns related to the reactor at Arak," without specifying whether the site must be fully or partially dismantled