(AP) - Iran on Thursday said it plans to press ahead with construction of a heavy-water nuclear reactor the U.S. and its allies fear could be used to produce plutonium to build atomic weapons hours after the U.N. nuclear watchdog denied Tehran help in building it, reports Trend.
The U.N. nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, decided to deny Iran technical help in building the heavy-water reactor in central Iran at least for now but left room for Tehran to renew its request, diplomats said.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the IAEA was legally required to provide technical assistance to Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Iran has repeatedly said its contentious nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
"It is the duty of the IAEA to help. If they help, we will appreciate it. If not, we will do it on our own," Mottaki told reporters in Tehran.