Page 44 - IRANRptAug19

foreign buyers saw their opportunity and stepped up their purchases before US sanctions snapped back into place in early August.
9.1.12 Renewable energy sector news
Iran's enriched uranium stockpile has passed the 300-kilogram limit under the 2015 nuclear deal an "informed source" said, Tass citing Fars News Agency reported on July 1.
Under the nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran’s low-enriched uranium should not exceed a 202.8kg limit. This latest admission now brings Tehran technically in breach of its obligations, if the United Nation's latterly confirms the amount.
Officials in Iran said in recent hours that the country’s nuclear programme was on track to pass the enriched uranium limit, hinting at the move being made after frustrations by the Iranian leadership at Europe's flipflopping at their obligations of sanctions relief as part of the JCPOA.
Tehran’s move to breach the agreement follows that of the United States which formally ejected from the deal in May last year and has placed increasingly tougher sanctions on Tehran in recent months.
"As we announced when we said our steps would continue, the stockpile has passed 300 kg," the source said to the Iranian news agency.
The unnamed person said the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was aware of the direction of Iran’s uranium enrichment earlier in the week while measuring the stockpile.
The enrichment announcement, where if it surpassed a level of 3.6% fissile material could eventually allow Iran to build up enough highly-enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon or at the break-out stage.
Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Homayoun Haeri has said his government and Armenia are discussing creating a joint energy grid for transmissions, IRNA reported on June 30.
Iran and Armenia often use each other’s services, with Iran during peak times feeding off from the Armenian grid. The new proposal to create a unified electricity grid was brought about to have a more permanent electric connection.
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said that the preferential tariff agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union served as a suitable opportunity to integrate the power grids formally.
Today, the world seeks to develop secure and guaranteed economies and the transport and sale of energy can be one of the forms of guaranteed economy,” Ardakanian said at a ceremony to inaugurate an electrical substation in the northern city of Qazvin on June 30 in another energy-related meeting.
“By investing in the production and transmission of renewable energies, Iran can become one of the biggest suppliers in the region, which will have many developmental results for the country,” he added.
A militia under Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is to install small-scale solar power projects in villages, Mehr News Agency has reported. The IRGC’s paramilitary volunteer militia, Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij (Organisation for Mobilization of the Oppressed) or “Basij”, has been tasked with handling the installation. The part-time force, which for younger members sometimes serves as a boys’ club, will likely carry out the work for free. The Basij commander, Brigadier General Gholam-Hossein Gheibparvar, reportedly said the militia would start commissioning 5-kilowatt rooftop panels
44 IRAN Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com