Iran has the know-how to produce nuclear fuel for submarines and commercial ships, a top official has said.
"We have the capability to design nuclear fuel for ships and submarines, but currently no plan to enrich uranium beyond 20 percent is on our agenda," Fereydoun Abbasi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), was quoted as saying by state-run Press TV.
Abbasi's remarks came as several Iranian lawmakers said they had prepared a draft bill urging the government to equip commercial vessels with nuclear propulsion systems in order to avert the US-engineered sanctions that ban other countries from refuelling Iranian ships.
The AEOI has no difficulty to move towards such systems and technologies, once it becomes a matter of basic necessity and the government makes a decision on it, said Abbasi.
The US, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of making atomic weapons in the guise of a peaceful nuclear programme. Iran has strongly refuted the allegations.