Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi has said Tehran will never abandon the Arak heavy water reactor, considering it a "red line" in talks with world powers, media reported yesterday.
"Your actions and words show you don't want us to have the Arak heavy water reactor which means you want to deprive us of our rights," Salehi was quoted as saying by the website of state broadcaster IRIB.
"But you should know that it is a red line which we will never cross, likewise enrichment" of uranium.
Arak is of concern because, in theory, it could provide the Islamic republic with plutonium -- an alternative to highly enriched uranium used for a nuclear bomb.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif assured Gulf Arab states Sunday his country's nuclear deal with the West is in their interest and also announced plans to visit Saudi Arabia.
"The solution to this issue serves the interests of all countries in the region. It is not at the expense of any state in the region," Zarif said after meeting Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah.
"Be assured that the nuclear deal is in favour of the stability and security of the region," Zarif said in his first official visit to a Gulf Arab nation.
The Islamic republic last Sunday struck a landmark deal in Geneva with Western powers on Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
Both world powers and Israel suspect Tehran's nuclear ambitions include acquiring a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran vehemently denies.