Iran unveils development at Arak reactor amid US sanctions pressure

Iran on Monday unveiled the secondary circuit of its nuclear reactor at Arak which it said was part of the redevelopment plan.

"Today a significant part of the reactor becomes operational," Iran's atomic energy chief said, adding, "the secondary circuit transfers the heat generated in the reactor's heart to cooling towers and is now complete."

Iran's atomic energy chief informed that the "primary circuit" was still being built in an indication of renewed plans to build its nuclear prowess.  

Salehi informed that "fifty-two systems have to be built so that the reactor can become operational" while informing that twenty have been completed.

President Donald Trump had pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran in May last year which included six other nations and had reimposed sanctions on the country. Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were the other stakeholders in the deal who backed Iran even after the US pullout but the fate of the deal has increasingly become unclear.

Iran had earlier restarted enriching uranium at Fordow nuclear facility in breach of the 2015 agreement which was criticised by several European countries including the United States.

Reports had indicated that the European "E3" powers - France, Britain and Germany were considering triggering reimposition of United Nations sanctions which was part of the 2015 deal but have refrained from pulling the plug on Iran.

Iran says it has the right to take measures to protect its security after the US withdrew from the nuclear pact and imposed crippling sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had recently said that US sanctions against Iran were a  "reckless addiction" even as Iran President Hassan Rouhani slammed the "irrational" withdrawal of the United States from the multinational nuclear deal.