VIENNA, July 19. /TASS/. Iran may sell to Russia some 40 tonnes of heavy water, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday after a meeting of the Joint Commission for the fulfilment of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
"We are currently in negotiations with Russia on the sale of 40 tonnes of heavy water, there are also other buyers ready to purchase it from us," the minister said.
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The Iranian diplomat added that "the consultations continue." "I don’t known when (the agreement will be reached), these are commercial negotiations, they continue," he said.
According to Araghchi, Tehran has recently closed a deal on the sale of 32 tonnes of heavy water to the United States. "The deal has been finalized, the money has already been transferred to the accounts of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization," he said.
In January, Iran removed the core of its Arak heavy water nuclear reactor and filled it with cement as required under a nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers. The United States, Russia and China have agreed to participate in the redesign and the construction of a modernized reactor.
Russia is ready to discuss with Iran the purchase of excess heavy water and enriched uranium, Russian deputy permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna Alexei Karpov told reporters on Tuesday.
"We’ll be ready, as a possible option, to continue such work on enriched uranium in the future, if Iran requests," he said. "As for heavy water, we are also ready to assist Iran in this issue by buying the needed amount of this material."