Ali Akbar Salehi made the remark following the joint press conference of Iranian and Russian presidents on Tuesday, adding there are only a very few countries that are currently providers of uranium enrichment service.
“Under the JCPOA, we will sell about nine tons of enriched uranium to Russia and in return will import 140 tons of natural uranium,” he said.
Salehi added that the agreement has been signed and the necessary measures are being taken to put the agreement into effect; “President Putin has also signed the decree on lifting the ban on supplying Iran with uranium enrichment equipment,” he said.
Under a Kremlin decree published on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has lifted the ban on supplying Iran with uranium enrichment equipment, technology and related materials, and the two countries will extend cooperation on implementing various joint nuclear projects.
The AEOI head maintained that the Russian side had shown good cooperation and support during the nuclear negotiations, adding “they also pledged to assist us in implementing some measures predicted in the JCPOA such as producing stable isotopes.”
Salehi stressed that stable isotopes are highly important since they require special centrifuges.
“We will upgrade all of our centrifuges with help from Russians in a way that they would be able to produce stable isotopes,” he said.
Salehi further noted that Iran and Russia are also planning to complete the project of the construction of two new nuclear power plants in Iran’s southern city of Bushehr, adding Iran hopes to be able to provide nuclear fuel for Bushehr power plants under Russia’s license.
The Russian President who is visiting Tehran took part in Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit on Monday, and held talks with Iran's Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The two sides discussed various points of mutual interest including bilateral cooperation on nuclear and other economic-related issues, as well as joining forces in the fight against terrorism.
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