Arak (IP) - The Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization has said the nuclear industry benefits Iran, to the tune of 700 million dollars, with exports earning us hard currency.

Iran Press/Iran News: "The nuclear industry can produce the next generation's power. It can also earn us as much as 700 million dollars", Ali Akbar Salehi said on Monday at his press conference in Arak.

"The West challenges us and the problem is not our nuclear industry. This is an excuse, now they talk about our missile power. The West's problem is with the Islamic revolution" Salehi said.

In an answer to the question of the Iran Press reporter, he added: "Experts in this industry are well aware that Iran has taken significant steps in this regard and integrated what you see today as the Khondab reactor."

"Europe has lost its political clout and prestige in the eyes of world public opinion. We hope all signatories try to save the JCPOA back to its first stage or where it was. If they implement their commitments, Iran will return to its commitments, reversing previous steps," Salehi noted.

Producing plutonium to make nuclear weapons, not on our agenda

"They said that the reactor was producing 8 kilograms of Plutonium per year, that can be used to make nuclear weapons," Ali Akbar Salehi added.

"In design revision, the Islamic Republic had to minimize Plutonium production, which was possible by increasing uranium enrichment," he said. 

"The former reactor used uranium 238, much of it converted to plutonium. But when we enrich uranium, it causes the amount of plutonium produced to be less than one kilogram per year," he continued.

Salehi underlined the Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought to develop nuclear weapons.

"Production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons were forbidden based on Islam, according to the fatwa of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei," Salehi stressed. 

He went on to say: "We did a review of reactor design to multiply the reactor neutron population. In the process, we provide a wide platform for various experiments and produce the radionuclides needed in the field of industry and cancer treatment. Now, with the new design in the Arak reactor, we can produce Cobalt 60 which can be a good source of income for the country." 

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