Middle East

Iran's FM extolls country's ability to restore nuke program

Associated Press
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FILE -- This Oct. 27, 2004 file photo, shows the interior of the Arak heavy water production facility in Arak, 360 kms southwest of Tehran, Iran. A document obtained by The Associated Press Monday, July 18, 2016, says key nuclear restrictions on Iran will ease in a little more than a decade, halving the time Tehran would need to build a bomb if it chose to do so. The document says that 11 to 13 years into the 15-year agreement, Iran can replace the 5,060 inefficient centrifuges it now uses to enrich uranium with up to 3,500 advanced machines. (AP Photo/Fars News Agancy, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE -- In this July 14, 2015 file photo, young Iranian men cheer and show victory signs while holding a picture of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, reading "Zarif is Mosaddegh of our time," comparing Zarif to Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran's legendary prime minister during the 1950s who nationalized the country's oil industry, in Tehran, Iran. A document obtained by The Associated Press Monday, July 18, 2016, says key nuclear restrictions on Iran will ease in a little more than a decade, halving the time Tehran would need to build a bomb if it chose to do so. The document says that 11 to 13 years into the 15-year agreement, Iran can replace the 5,060 inefficient centrifuges it now uses to enrich uranium with up to 3,500 advanced machines. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2016 file-pool photo, Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran has met all conditions under the nuclear deal. A document obtained by The Associated Press Monday, July 18, 2016, says key nuclear restrictions on Iran will ease in a little more than a decade, halving the time Tehran would need to build a bomb if it chose to do so. The document says that 11 to 13 years into the 15-year agreement, Iran can replace the 5,060 inefficient centrifuges it now uses to enrich uranium with up to 3,500 advanced machines. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

Iran's foreign minister is extolling the country's ability to bring its nuclear program back on track as limits on the 15-year accord ease in the coming years.

Mohammad Javad Zarif says a document, submitted by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency and outlining plans to expand Iran's uranium enrichment program, is a "matter of pride."

He says it was created by Iran's "negotiators and experts."

Zarif's remarks, carried by the semi-official Fars news agency on Tuesday, followed revelations the day before of the confidential document — an add-on agreement to the nuclear deal with world powers — that Iran gave the IAEA.

The document, obtained by The Associated Press in Vienna, outlines Tehran's plans to expand its uranium enrichment program after the first 10 years of the nuclear deal.