TEHRAN, Jul. 28 (MNA) – Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday that Iran enriched 24 tons of uranium after signing JCPOA, noted a member of Parliament.

Salehi had attended today’s session of ‘independent’ faction of the Parliament to discuss the latest developments on the nuclear deal.

“After the JCPOA, Iran enriched 24 tons of uranium, not 300kg,” MP Gholamali Jafarzadeh quoted Salehi as saying in the session.

Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), entitled Iran with the right to enrich uranium at a certain level. After US withdrawal from the deal in May 2018, Trump administration imposed several sanctions against Iran, one of which targeted enriched uranium sales of the country.

Since the implementation of this unilateral measure, Iran has stocked all its enriched uranium and in early July, IAEA confirmed that Iran’s stockpile of uranium has exceeded the 300kg limit agreed in the deal. Iran is reducing commitments to the nuclear deal in a step-by-step and transparent manner to create a balance since other parties have so far failed to adhere to their commitments. Tehran says all its measures are reversible as soon as other parties can safeguard its economic interests from damages US unilateral sanctions.

According to the lawmaker, Salehi added that the main cause of differences between Iran and Western countries lies in political and ideological issues and that the nuclear energy issue is just an excuse. “Even if Iran eliminates the nuclear issue, West’s problems with Iran will not be solved because they have political and ideological disputes with Iran,” he quoted Salehi as saying.

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