Press TV- A senior Iranian parliamentarian says the Islamic Republic is in talks with a number ofcountries to sell its surplus heavy water, a nuclear byproduct,after the US decided to halt its purchases.
Tehran has to sell its surplus heavy water under the 2015 nuclear agreement withworld countries which requires thatthe inventory not exceed 130 tonnes.
The administration of former US President Barack Obama announced in late 2016 that it would spend more than $8 million to purchase Iranian heavy water but the President Donald Trump put a stop tothe purchases last month.
MP Mojtaba Zonnour, who heads the Iranian Parliament's Nuclear Committee, has said that Washington's decision breaches the spirit of the nuclear agreement, known officially as the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA).
"This American action is not a violation of the JCPOAbut it is in conflict with its spirit," he said Monday, explaining that as perthe text of the deal, the US is not required to buy heavy water from Iran.
"The Islamic Republic should engage in marketing to sell its heavy water and negotiations have been held with some countries to that end," Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.
The lawmakersaid if the US prevents other countries from buying the Iranian heavy water or imposes fresh sanctionsin this regard, that will definitely constitute a violation of the JCPOA.
Europe and Russia are reportedly other clients of the Iranian heavy water but Zonnour said certain countries interested inbuyingthe materialfrom Iran faced pressure from the US and therefore "backed down on their plans."
According to the lawmaker, Iran currently produces about20 tonnes of heavy water a year, some of which is used domestically and the surplus is transported abroad.
Zonnour put Iran's current heavy water stock at130 tonnes, the limit which should not be exceeded under the nuclear agreement.
"Part of this amount is kept inside the country and another part istransferred to an area under Iran's ownershipin Omanso that the heavy water stock does not exceed 130 tonnes."
Last month, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)Ali Akbar Salehi said the country had transferred 11 tonnes of heavy water to Oman in total.
PressTV-Iran sends 11 tonnes of heavy water to Oman
The AEOI head says Iran has transferred 11 tonnes of heavy water to Oman as part of its obligations under the JCPOA.
Iran, he said, hadsold 70 tonnes of heavy water, addingtalks were underway with a number ofcountries, especially in Europe, to sell more.
