Speaking at a ceremony marking Doctors’ Day in the nuclear industry on Sunday, Mohammad Eslami said the plant produces the fuel required by the Tehran Research Reactor.
“The Tehran reactor is a research reactor and is mainly used for research and production work related to radiopharmaceuticals,” Eslami said.
He added that a radiopharmaceutical production facility was also among the facilities hit in the air raids.
Eslami further pointed to the bombing of an oxygen-18 production line at the Khondab complex, saying the material is needed for PET scans and is produced domestically to support the country’s PET scan services.
He said the acts of aggression were “a clear and naked symbol of their school of thought,” arguing that the targets were scientific activities whose products are used by the public.
According to Eslami, products made by the AEOI are used annually by 1.5 million patients or people seeking medical care for diagnostic purposes, while several countries are now destinations for Iran’s nuclear-industry exports.
The US and Israel have launched two unprovoked wars against Iran since June 2025 that have claimed the lives of thousands of civilians.
IRNA