TEHRAN- According to the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), Iran achieved 159 goals in the previous Persian calendar year (ending March 20) despite U.S. sanctions and other obstacles imposed by the West.

Mohammad Eslami stated on Monday on a TV program that young Iranian scientists made successes in a variety of sectors in the nuclear field, such as irradiation systems, microwave, radiopharmaceuticals, and plasma technology.

“Last year, we had 159 achievements. It was important for us to speed up the time needed to get results and turn an idea into a product,” he said.

Eslami stressed that despite U.S. sanctions that forbade Iranian radiopharmaceutical enterprises from sending or receiving any shipments, progress had been accomplished.

He went on to highlight that the West is against uranium enrichment and fuel cycle in Iran because they are against the growth of the country’s power.

“Therefore, we had to create a nuclear fuel cycle from zero to a hundred, from research to the acquisition of infrastructure. All of them have been created indigenously,” Eslami explained.

Iran has been collaborating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for a long time as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The country showed to the world the peaceful nature of its nuclear program by signing the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with six world powers.

Despite Washington’s unilateral departure from the agreement in 2018 and the consequent re-imposition of anti-Iran sanctions, it is nevertheless committed to upholding its duties under the JCPOA.

The AEOI has an ambition to bring its nuclear research to an industrial level and ultimately commercialize it, nuclear spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Sunday.

In a televised interview, Kamalvandi stated that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei’s remarks during a meeting with AEOI officials on Sunday “gave all of us extra energy to move quickly.”

“The vision of the organization is to be able to have a strong organization that can bring research to the industrial stage and then to business,” he stressed.

Kamalvandi went on to add, “Today, a part of these industries is quite clear, which has an impact on people’s lives, and they were mentioned and stressed by the Leader as well.”

The nuclear industry, according to Ayatollah Khamenei, is crucial for the nation’s development and capacities in the technological, economic, health, and other domains since it enhances national honor and improves people’s quality of life.

“The nuclear sector is important for this reason as well as in terms of the global and international political weight of the country,” the Leader stated.

Kamalvandi also said that there are a lot of consumers asking for Iranian heavy water.

Countries throughout the world are lining up to buy it, Kamalvandi told reporters shortly after Leader of the Islamic Revolution visited an exhibition of nuclear achievements held at the Imam Khomeini Hosseiniyeh and addressed nuclear experts and officials.

Kamalvandi stated that the consumers are proposing more than $1,000 per liter in the discussions for the acquisition of Iranian heavy water.  

U.S. outraged over Raisi visit to Venezuela 

In his Monday televised interview, Eslami also pointed to President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Venezuela, saying the U.S. is outraged by the Islamic Republic’s strategic alliance with Latin America.

The nuclear chief pointed out that Iran’s engagement with Latin America includes the nuclear issue and that Tehran will work with Caracas in the fields of radiation and medicine.

“Venezuela says the Americans have blocked their medical industry. The U.S. preaches about human rights but it does not respect human lives,” Eslami noted.