TEHRAN, Iran—Iran’s deputy nuclear chief on Tuesday denied a report that the core of the country’s nearly finished heavy water reactor has been dismantled and filled it with concrete as part of Tehran’s obligations under the nuclear deal with the West.
Ali Asghar Zarean, in remarks to state TV said that Iran will first sign an agreement with China to modify the Arak reactor, a deal that is expected next week.
“Definitely, we will not apply any physical change in this field until a final agreement is finalized,” Zarean added, without specifically mentioning the Fars news agency report.
On Monday, Fars said that technicians had dismantled the core of the Arak reactor and filled it with concrete. The agency, which is close to Iranian hard-liners, cited unnamed sources for the report.
Under the landmark nuclear deal that commits Tehran to significant limits on its nuclear activities for over a decade in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions, Iran must redesign the Arak reactor so it can’t produce plutonium for nuclear weapons — though it will still produce small amounts of plutonium and heavy water.
Iran has insisted it needs the heavy water reactor for production of medical isotopes.
Hard-liners in Iran, who oppose Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the nuclear deal with world powers, argue that the so-called “disabling” of Arak is a slap in the face of Iran and allegedly evidence of Rouhani having given too many concessions to the West in return to little.
