BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 11. Iran does not take instructions from any nation regarding its nuclear program, said the country’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, Trend reports.
Speaking today at an event organized by the Iranology Foundation in Tehran, Arif emphasized that Iran has consistently affirmed that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons, in line with the directives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. As a result, Iran does not engage in consultations with any external parties on this issue.
Arif also highlighted that Iran believes modern technologies should be fully utilized and made available to others. In particular, nuclear technology should serve as a tool for advancing development and addressing global challenges.
On February 14, the IAEA Director General Grossi reported that Iran is increasing the amount of uranium enriched to 60 percent by nearly seven times. In the coming weeks, Iran’s stock of 60 percent enriched uranium is expected to reach around 250 kilograms. Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to this level, a development that has raised international concerns.
On January 16, 2016, the JCPOA came into force between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions on Iran starting from November 2018.
By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement.
Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 20–30 percent.
Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction.
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