Iran To Draw 50-Year Roadmap For Nuclear Program

Iran’s atomic chief says members of parliament are seeking to legislate a 50-year nuclear roadmap so change of administrations cannot influence the program. 

Following a meeting with the members of parliament's energy committee on Sunday, Mohammad Eslami, vice president and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said that the parliamentarians are pushing to turn the so-called comprehensive roadmap for nuclear industry into law in such a way that the nuclear development process is not damaged by the change of administrations.

The document, which was unveiled on April 9 this year by the AEOI, includes the country’s plans for nuclear activities such as power generation, increasing nuclear radiation applications, radiopharmaceuticals, protection against radiation, and developing nuclear infrastructures. 

He added that the AEOI wants people to feel the tangible effects of nuclear technology in their lives. 

During the past weeks, many Iranian observers including commentators and lawmakers criticized President Ebrahim Raisi for claiming that the people wish to resist rather than reach an agreement that would lift US sanctions and bring about a breakthrough in Iran's economy.

Some former Iranian diplomats suggested that Raisi and other ultraconservatives take advantage of the current foreign policy impasse over the revival of the JCPOA for their own personal or factional political gains to strengthen their foothold in Iran's domestic politics.

Diplomats negotiating to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, JCPOA, have repeatedly said that an agreement has almost been completed in 11 months of talks in Vienna, but Tehran demands more sanctions be lifted than Washington is willing to waive.