IRNA– US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Iran’s decision to send its excess heavy water to Oman is no violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).



He made the remarks while talking to reporters during his weekly press briefing on Monday, the website of the US Deparment of State said.

A reporter present in the briefing said, “Today the Iranians announced that they had shipped their or are shipping their excess heavy water to Oman” and asked Kirby to comment on the point.

He said, “I would not expect the U.S. Government to purchase any Iranian heavy water in the near future.”

He was also asked to comment whether the Administration sees “that the overproduction of heavy water beyond the agreed 130” as a violation of the JCPOA or not.

Kirby said that the IAEA announced the issue, saying “… and we agree with them, that they did exceed this 130-metric ton heavy water limit.”

He went on to stress that “We recognize and we agree with the IAEA that they exceeded that limit, but they informed the IAEA of their plan to address it. They are now addressing it. And so our focus is on making sure that Iran stays in compliance and keeps its commitments.”

He said the IAEA report “estimates that 130 metric tons is about the right amount.”

The US State Department spokesman stressed that “If you’ve exceeded it and you get it out, then that is being compliant with the JCPOA commitments.”

Questioned by a reporter on “the Administration considering new, kind of last-minute –not concessions but easing more sanctions and granting more licenses to U.S. companies to do business in Iran” in order to “kind of shore up or harden, cement the Iran deal before the end of the Administration”, the spokesman said, “Obviously, we’re going to stay committed to meeting our JCPOA commitments and obviously continue to believe that the Iran deal is the right thing for the country and for our interests.”

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Sunday that Iran has shipped a portion of its excess heavy water to Oman.

According to the official, Tehran will send more of its excess heavy water to the country in the future.

Earlier in the month, the International Atomic Energy Agency claimed in a quarterly report that Iran’s stocks of heavy water had slightly exceeded the 130-ton level set out in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Earlier, the official had underlined Iran’s commitment to the JCPOA obligations, including those pertaining to its heavy water supplies.