TEHRAN- Iran will soon become a center for the manufacture of radiopharmaceuticals, says the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI)

Speaking at an event on Monday, Mohammad Eslami said Iran’s capacity in producing radiopharmaceuticals for detecting and treating ailments

might be raised by five to seven times.

Iran will soon become a major producer and exporter of radiopharmaceuticals given the capacities that have been developed, Eslami noted.

The nuclear chief praised the achievements in plasma science and technology during the previous 16 months and said that local scientists has also made significant advancements in developing radiation technologies utilized in the agricultural and medical fields.

He also referred to the production of high-quality heavy water in the country, stating that Iran has established a dominant global position in this market and is able to export the excess of heavy water it produces to other nations.

Eslami also commended Iran for taking significant advances toward realizing the goal of producing 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power, which was reiterated by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

In December 2022, the AEOI chief said Iran aims to become a global hub for producing deuterium drugs.

“In a not-too-distant future we will turn into a hub for manufacturing drugs based on deuterium which are good alternatives to chemical drugs and have lower side effects in comparison to those drugs,” he stated.

In April 2021, the AEOI began operating the second phase of its deuterium production unit at the Arak heavy water reactor facility in the heart of Iran.

Back in June, during a TV program, Eslami said that Iran had achieved 159 goals in the previous Persian calendar year (ending March 20) despite U.S. sanctions and other obstacles imposed by the West.

Eslami stated 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.

Also, in a televised interview, nuclear spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi stated that Ayatollah Khamenei’s remarks during a meeting with AEOI officials “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.

Iran is at the forefront of nuclear technology as evidenced by its production of fuel with a 20 percent purity, heavy water derivatives, and nuclear medications that are more effective than conventional medicines, Kamalvandi stated.