Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 30 / Trend, S. Isayev, T. Jafarov
Iran is monthly enriching as much of uranium as necessary as it is needed for the Tehran nuclear reactor, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi said, ISNA news agency reported.
Salehi's remarks came in answer to earlier reports that Iran has halted its 20-percent uranium enrichment.
"The 20-percent uranium enrichment in the country has not stopped," Salehi underscored.
Last week, Iranian MP Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini was quoted by Iranian Parliament's news agency (ICANA) as saying that "Tehran reactor fuel has been supplied with enough nuclear fuel and currently there is no need for production of 20 percent-enriched uranium".
He later dismissed this, saying that "Tehran is ready to convert its stockpile of 20 percent-enriched uranium to fuel rods and remove concerns over its non-peaceful use".
The latest IAEA report put Iran's stocks of 20 percent UF6 (Uranium hexafluoride) at about 180 kg. Since 2007, the country has produced about 350 kg of this material - around 40 kg has been made into fuel plates for a research reactor, while the rest is in UF6 form, oxide form, or waste form.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies.
The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.