TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s atomic energy chief has echoed earlier remarks by another high-ranking Iranian official that the Islamic Republic has the technical means to produce an atomic bomb but has no intention to do so.

Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), told Fars News Agency on Monday “As Mr. (Kamal) Kharrazi mentioned, Iran has the technical ability to build an atomic bomb, but such a program is not on the agenda,” referring to remarks by the senior adviser to Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in July.

Eslami said the interaction between the AEOI and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been constructive and there has been no disruption, because “all of our capacities are being fulfilled based on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Safeguards Agreement.”

He said the possible military dimension (PMD) accusations leveled by the West against Iran’s nuclear energy program stem from the terrorist group Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) and Israel.

The Iranian atomic energy chief highlighted that the main goal of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with the West, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was to remove the misunderstandings and stop the accusations.

Eslami added Iran decided to turn off all JCPOA-related cameras at its nuclear sites as the ‘false’ accusations by the West did not stop.

He also said that members of the Iranian parliament are seeking to draw up a comprehensive nuclear roadmap so that the change of administrations would not affect the nuclear program.

After a meeting with the parliament’s Energy Committee on Sunday evening, Eslami said the lawmakers are pushing to turn the 50-year roadmap for nuclear industry into law so nuclear development would be shielded from decisions by the next administrations.

Eslami said Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization has planned to develop nuclear energy, including use of radiations and radiopharmaceuticals, so the nuclear technology would be more tangible in people’s lives.

On April 9, the AEOI unveiled the roadmap that addresses all aspects of the nuclear technology and the industrialization of the domestic nuclear sector.

The parliament is expected to legislate it before the end of the current Iranian year (March 20).

Iran says it will remain persistent in its push to develop and expand its nuclear program despite pressures and sanctions by the West.