Salehi: no heavy water for US without full payment

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, said the delivery of the country’s surplus heavy water to the United States is conditional on Washington making full payment in advance.

“Following the seizure of Iran’s assets, I asked my AEOI colleagues to refrain from delivering the heavy water consignment,” Press TV cited Salehi as saying.

the precautionary measure is taken in the wake of an April US Supreme Court ruling, which authorized the confiscation of around $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets, to ensure such future ploys by the US are neutralized.

Last month, the US government completed an $8.6-million deal to buy 32 metric tons of heavy water from Iran. The court ruled in April that Iran's assets frozen in a bank account should be turned over to the American families of those killed in a 1983 bombing in Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran.