TEHRAN - Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said late on Monday that Iran is fully prepared to immediately expedite nuclear activities similar to the pre-nuclear deal situation in case the U.S. pulls out of the 2015 agreement.

Based on the nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic and financial sanctions. 

The deal was signed between Iran, the European Union, Germany and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council including the United States. It went into effect in January 16, 2016.

“Iran’s decision to respond to [the U.S.] withdrawal from the JCPOA will be upon the system’s senior officials. However, in the technical area, we are prepared to return to former situation,” Salehi said in a televised interview.

In a statement on January 12, U.S. President Donald Trump set a May 12 deadline for the Europeans to agree to an overhaul of the nuclear agreement or he would unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from it.

In remarks aired on Sunday, Salehi had said Iran can resume enriching uranium to the purity level of 20 percent at the Fordow nuclear plant if the JCPOA is scrapped.

‘We have 70 tons of heavy water’

Salehi also said that Iran has 70 tons of heavy water.

Back in March 2016, Tehran exported 32 tons of heavy water to the United States as part of the nuclear agreement for a price of $8.6 million.

It also sold Russia 38 tons of the nuclear substance in 2016.

NA/PA