The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi announced on Tuesday, August 13, that the Islamic Republic's enriched uranium stockpile has reached 370 kilograms.
"We are producing [enriched uranium] with a good capacity and our stockpile is 60 to 70 kilograms above the 300kg [JCPOA limit] and this amount is growing fast," Behrouz Kamalvandi said on the sideline of a ceremony which marked the construction of a research center on separation and development of the applications of stable isotopes at Fordow nuclear facility in Qom.
The 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, known as JCPOA, limits Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium to 300 kg.
Echoing recent remarks by the Islamic Republic's President Hassan Rouhani, Kamalvandi also insisted, "Iran is not obliged to restrict its stockpile of heavy water to 130 tons," adding, "Although our heavy water exports are not big figures, we have diverse markets which include European and non-European countries. Iran should not lose any of these markets."
Nonetheless, Kamalvandi stopped short of naming the countries interested in buying heavy water from Iran.
Tehran has threatened its European partners in the JCPOA; France, Germany, and the U.K., that if their promises for helping Iran to sidestep U.S. sanctions imposed remain unfulfilled, it might produce even further enriched uranium, and return Arak heavy water plant to the situation it had before the nuclear deal.
Nevertheless, the Europeans have insisted that they would never concede to any deadline set by Iran.
In the meantime, Washington has deplored Iran's threats as "nuclear extortion."
Meanwhile, the head of the AEOI, Ali Akbar Salehi announced during the same event on Tuesday, "Fordow nuclear site is one of the most active nuclear sites in Iran and its cooperation with different states, such as Russia is underway within the JCPOA, providing infrastructural scientific and technical needs of the nuclear industry and other industries."
The center will research methods to produce stable isotopes, including through distillation and heat exchange. These can be used in medicine, industry, and science, the state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.
According to Salehi, Fordow nuclear site has 1044 centrifuges enriching uranium.
