
Iranian TV reporter Mohsen Maghsoodi visited Russia’s ATOM exhibition alongside two anonymous Iranian nuclear doctoral students in a report aired on Channel 1 (Iran), on December 27, 2024. Maghsoodi highlighted the Soviet nuclear bomb as a significant deterrence against the U.S. and NATO. He further explained that Iran could claim ownership of the South Pole or establish a permanent base there. He added that while the Iranian Navy is currently planning its presence in the region, achieving this goal requires the production of nuclear propellants, which in turn necessitates uranium enrichment of 60% or more. Maghsoodi emphasized that Iran has the right to pursue this according to IAEA guidelines. Additionally, the anonymous Iranian nuclear scientists revealed that Russia is set to build two new nuclear power plants at the Bushehr site, which are currently under construction.
Narrator: "Today, at Moscow's VDNKh Park, we are supposed to visit the ATOM exhibition. This is a museum and an exhibition that tells the history of nuclear technology in Russia and the world. Two Iranian nuclear doctoral students have accompanied us behind the scenes, in order to guide us."
Mohsen Maghsoodi: "Following a discussion we had, we decided not to reveal their faces. They will talk to us behind the scenes, and will provide the technical explanations.
[...]
"Okay this is the ATOM exhibition."
[...]
Narrator: "One of the interesting things in this exhibition is a live demonstration of the first Soviet nuclear bomb test. This was a major attraction for the young Russians. They were proud of their nuclear bomb test. They may be right in considering the nuclear bomb to be the most important means of deterrence against the U.S. and NATO.
[...]
"According to international law, and since from the Makran area and southward we have a direct maritime line to the South Pole, with nothing in between, we can have a permanent base in the South Pole, or even own part of it. This has a significant strategic importance for Iran in economic, political, and legal terms, as well as in the sense of scientific and technological achievements.
"The plan by the Iranian army's navy for Iranian presence in the South Pole has been declared by the commander of that navy, and this [project] is currently in the planning stages. But a safe and constant passage through the ice of the South pole in order to allow for an extended Iranian presence there, requires the production nuclear propellants. The type of planning [of these propellants] requires 20-90% enriched [uranium]. It is said that these Russian icebreakers use uranium enriched to an average of 60%. Therefore, in order to produce a variety of nuclear propellants – and this is required by our country – we need to be ready and able to elevate the enrichment level above 60% whenever we decide to do so. According to the IAEA regulations, this is Iran's absolute and legal right."
[...]
Maghsoodi: "Is Russia supposed to build two additional nuclear power plants?"
Source: "Yes, units 2 and 3 at the Bushehr power plant."
Maghsoodi: "They will also have a capacity of 1,000 MW?"
Source: "Yes, they too will have a capacity of 1,000 MW and they are in the building phase."