China, Iran to sign contract on heavy water reactor

Beijing April 20 (IANS) China and Iran will on Sunday sign the first commercial contract to redesign Tehran s Arak heavy water reactor in Vienna a Foreign Ministry spokesman has said.

China and Iran have reached initial agreement on the commercial contract Spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily news briefing on Thursday.

Redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor is a core aspect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran s nuclear programme Xinhua news agency reported.

The JCPOA was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group namely Britain China France Russia the US and Germany.

The P5+1 countries have created a working group led by China and the US to work with Iran to redesign the reactor said Lu.

The signing will create a favourable condition for the progress of the redesign.

China will do the follow-up work with all parties involved in accordance with the comprehensive nuclear deal and the consensus reached by all parties Lu said.

The 7th Joint Commission between Iran and the P5+1 will convene in Vienna next week.

--IANS
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