Russia will be able to export nuclear equipment and technology to Iran now that president Vladimir Putin has eased an export ban, multiple news agencies reported on Monday.
The announcement came as Putin was visiting Tehran, the Iranian capital, for an energy summit. He was to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei later in the day, the state-owned Russian television network RT reported.
Under the decree, Russia will be able to help Iran modify and modernize two of its nuclear facilities. That will help the Middle Eastern nation produce and export enriched uranium, and the RT report indicated that Russia will be importing some low-enriched material from Iran.
Iran agreed in July to a landmark deal with Russia and five other world powers — China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The comprehensive agreement was designed to restrict Iran’s controversial nuclear program, which the nation insists is used solely for civilian purposes but some Western nations feared was developing an atomic bomb.
Under the July deal, the United Nations agreed to lift sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy — costing it more than $160 billion in oil revenue in the past three years, the BBC reported at the time. But the sanctions won’t be lifted until it’s clear Iran complies with its end of the bargain, and they can be reinstated and extended if the nation doesn’t hold up to the terms.
The July agreement also requires Iran to dispose of 98 percent of its enriched uranium, and the country cannot possess more than 300 kilograms of the material for 15 years.
The BBC reported that low-enriched uranium has a 3 to 4 percent of the radioactive isotope U-235, which can be used in the process of fueling nuclear power plants. It can, however, be further enriched to the 90-percent level needed to make nuclear weapons, the BBC also reported.
