Iran says U.S. once sought to purchase Iran's heavy water

TEHRAN, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said the United States once sought to purchase heavy water from Iran for its "high quality," the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, making the remarks in a televised interview, said that in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, Iran fetched 15 million U.S. dollars from exporting heavy water byproducts.

Iran seeks to increase exports of its heavy water products to 100 million U.S. dollars in the coming years, he added.

The spokesman stressed "at present, Iran ranks first in the world in terms of the quality of its heavy water, which has attracted international customers."

Kamalvandi said that "even during a period of time, the Americans, following the analysis they had conducted, wanted to purchase heavy water from Iran," adding there were relevant documents about the issue.

According to a report published by the U.S.-based organization Arms Control Association in June 2016, Washington had agreed to purchase 32 tons of heavy water from Iran in April that year, but an Iranian official said one month later that the export was delayed over Tehran's concerns about receiving payment for the purchase.

The United States does not produce heavy water domestically, the report said.

Heavy water is used as a moderator of neutrons in nuclear power plants.