Iran Plans To Buy Tons Of Kazakh Uranium Over 3 Years

An IAEA team checks the enrichment process inside Iran's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. (file photo)

Iran says it has requested to buy 950 tons of uranium ore from Kazakhstan over three years to help develop its civil reactor program.

Tehran has asked a body overseeing its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to approve the purchase and is still awaiting Britain's agreement, the ISNA news agency quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, as saying on February 25.

Salehi also said Iran expects to get Russian help in producing nuclear fuel.

The nuclear agreement between Iran and Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, and the United States imposed curbs on Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.

The deal limits the level to which Iran can enrich uranium at 3.67 percent and caps the amount it can stockpile.

Such uranium is often used for peaceful purposes, but can be used for a nuclear weapon if processed to a higher level, experts say.

Based on reporting by ISNA, AFP, and Reuters