“We are negotiating with Russian Federation to sell 40 tons of heavy water”, he said. Iran has complained that it has not been getting the sanctions relief it deserves under the nuclear deal because of restrictions imposed by financial institutions.
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The undertone carried by the letter denounced recent declarations made by IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari concerning the nuclear deal.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi leaves a hotel after meeting senior officials from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France in Vienna, Austria, October 19, 2015. Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan released a statement lambasting the planned purchase, saying, “For Tehran, the nuclear agreement is the gift that keeps on giving”.It is understood that most worldwide banks have been reluctant to resume any business with Iran for fear of opening themselves up to enforcement of these sanctions.
From the Iranian perspective, the US obstacles are jeopardising the fulfillment of the nuclear agreement and empowering the country’s hard-liners.
On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court upheld the Congress and President Barack Obama’s actions to hold Iran financially responsible for the 1983 bombing that killed 241 Marines at their barracks in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Secretary of State John Kerry downplayed fears that Asian or European banks could fall afoul of Washington’s continuing sanctions against Iran’s non-nuclear activities. “That access was not granted in the nuclear deal, and it shouldn’t be granted now”. “We never asked to have access to USA financial system”, Zarif said. The department expects to resell the purchased heavy water to domestic commercial and research buyers, including a national lab. It is possible other countries may wish to purchase that in the future.
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In early March, Araqchi told the media that Iran had sold 32 tons of heavy water to the United States in what seen as a landmark progress in the commercialization of the country’s nuclear energy program.
