Iran: No Scaling Back Nuclear-Fuel Production

Fereydun Abbasi-Davani (file photo)

Iran's nuclear energy chief says the Islamic republic will continue production of nuclear fuel "in line with our declared goals."

Fereydun Abbasi-Davani, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, was speaking to journalists on June 28 at a nuclear energy conference in St. Petersburg.

Abbasi-Davani said enrichment work at the underground Fordow facility will continue.

The comments suggest there will be no change of course despite the election on June 14 of a new Iranian president, Hassan Rohani, a former chief nuclear negotiator.

In 2011, Fordow began producing uranium enriched to 20 percent fissile purity.

Iran says it needs the enriched fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran.

Several UN Security Council resolutions have demanded that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax