TEHRAN – One day after meeting IAEA chief Yukiya Amano in Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will soon unveil a marine nuclear-fuelled propeller, a technological breakthrough for the country after an international deal on its nuclear program in July 2015. 

“The nuclear-fuelled propeller will start operating soon,” Rouhani announced while attending a ceremony to inaugurate a citizenship charter in Tehran. 

“We announced yesterday (in the meeting with Amano) that the International Atomic Energy Agency should help us build a nuclear-powered propeller,” he added. 

Last week Rouhani ordered the development of a nuclear-propulsion system for vessels, describing the move as a retaliatory response to the recent extension of sanctions by the U.S. Congress for another ten years. 

Rouhani also requested a study of fuel production for the propulsion system and set a three-month deadline for a progress report on both steps. 

Iran says the sanctions renewal breaches an international nuclear deal finalized between the country and six world powers, including the U.S. 

Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, Tehran accepted limits on its nuclear program in exchange for termination of Western-led economic and financial sanctions. 

President Rouhani says the International Atomic Energy Agency should join Iran in its efforts to start working on a nuclear-fuelled propeller for marine transportation. The decision was a running theme of high-level dialogue between Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Amano on Sunday. 

“We discussed the propulsion plan in details,” Salehi told reporters at a press conference with the IAEA chief. 

Rouhani may use the decision as a counterbalance to the snapback mechanism set in the nuclear deal, which leaves the possibility of sanctions re-imposition open. 

Iran has thus far refused to reveal more details on the decision, particularly on what grade of uranium would be used for the propellers. 

This will be a function of uses depicted for such propellers, according to Salehi, which can be used in vessels and giant ships.  

“Usually, such propulsion systems are fuelled with uranium enriched between 5-90 percent depending on what type of uses they are put to and when,” Salehi, a nuclear physicist, explained. 

But, Tehran has clarified that it will not go beyond a 3.67-percnet uranium enrichment level set in the nuclear pact and its program will proceed in accordance with Safeguards Agreement.

Mounting tensions over the nuclear deal come as Mr. Trump prepares to take office. He has suggested he will show a more antagonistic face to Iran than his predecessor Barack Obama, who championed the nuclear deal. 

AK/PA