Iran can produce nuclear fuel

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali-Akbar Salehi says Iran is one of the few countries which can produce nuclear fuel rods and plates.

Salehi said Tehran is capable of making its own nuclear fuel plates and rods, reported Fars News Agency on Saturday.

The official went on to say that Iran has built a facility in the central city of Isfahan to develop the technology required to power nuclear reactors.

“We have built an advanced manufacturing unit in the Isfahan site for the fuel plates,” said Salehi in an exclusive interview with Fars.

“A grand transformation has taken place in the production of (nuclear) plates and rods. With the completion of the unit in Isfahan, we are one of the few countries which can produce fuel rods and fuel plates.”

He added that Western policies towards Iran had actually expedited the country’s nuclear achievements, including the production of nuclear plates and rods.

“This is in fact because of [the] West’s actions that we came to this point,” he said.

“What we say is based on reality and truth. There is no exaggeration or deception in our work. It is them who do not want to believe that Iran has no intention, but to obtain nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.”

Salehi said that Iran’s inviting foreign envoys to visit the country’s nuclear sites is a good-will gesture to further prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.

Representatives from Russia, China, the European Union, and the Non-Aligned Movement have been invited to tour Iran’s nuclear facilities in mid-January.