Iran to restart Arak nuclear reactor!

• Heavy water can be employed in reactors to produce plutonium, a fuel used in nuclear warheads.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, told lawmakers on Sunday that Iran will restart activities at the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, the Isna news agency reported.

Isna cited a member of parliament who attended the meeting. Heavy water can be employed in reactors to produce plutonium, a fuel used in nuclear warheads.

Iran stopped complying in May with some commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal that was agreed with global powers, after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and re-introduced sanctions on Tehran.
The remaining signatories have tried to hold the nuclear deal together, an increasingly difficult task as tensions between Washington and Tehran have soared in recent weeks.

On July 3, President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran would increase its uranium enrichment levels and start to revive its Arak heavy-water reactor after July 7 if the nations in the nuclear pact did not protect trade with Iran promised under the deal but blocked by the US sanctions.

Diplomats from Iran and five world powers recommitted on Sunday to salvaging the nuclear deal amid mounting tensions between the West and Tehran.

Representatives of Iran, Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the European Union met in Vienna to discuss the 2015 agreement that restricts the Iranian nuclear programme.

"The atmosphere was constructive, and the discussions were good," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters after the meeting ended. "I cannot say that we resolved everything" but all the parties are still "determined to save this deal", he added.

Fu Cong, the head of Chinese delegation, said that while there were "some tense moments" during the meeting, "on the whole the atmosphere was very good. Friendly. And it was very professional".