TEHRAN — Fereydoun Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and a current member of the Parliament Energy Committee, said on Saturday that Iran’s nuclear capabilities are vast and is beyond the current assumptions.

“The capabilities of our nuclear scientists are very high scientifically, and we are moving to the edge of technology, and we can have enrichment at a higher level, and in addition, we can build small reactors and produce plutonium as well as mastering the technology required to recycle reactor fuel,” Abbasi, a nuclear physicist, told the ICANA news agency.

He added Iran has made great advances in the field of chemistry and engineering and great talents are being raised in the country

What it is shown today is just a part of Iran's capability that the world is witnessing, he remarked.

The former head of the AEOI added, “We are an emerging world power and the Westerners know this; they are looking for an economic war to weaken Iran and we will definitely come out of this war proudly.”

Regarding the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he said Iran has accepted the limitations that the JCPOA has put on its nuclear program in order to show to the world that its science and technology in the nuclear field are for peaceful purposes, but the Westerners are pursuing other goals through the pact. 

“They seek to limit Iran's regional and defense power, while our regional influence is intended to thwart Western conspiracies intended to disintegrate countries in the region, and in the future our policy is to support independence, order and security in the region,” he concluded.