Iran has achieved complete mastery of the nuclear fuel cycle, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran announced on June 5, state television reported.

Following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s speech on June 4, the country's officials are doubling down on their position on their nuclear enrichment capabilities. The move is part of wider moves ahead of potential talks this weekend between US and Iranian officials in Muscat, according to previous reports. 

Mohammad Eslami told IRIB's "Iran Men" programme that Iran had reached "a point of complete maturity" and now possessed "all the necessary elements of the nuclear fuel cycle, which is the foundation of the nuclear industry."

Eslami said nuclear technology held strategic importance due to its role in scientific discovery and represented a power-generating technology that Western powers, particularly the United States, sought to monopolise through "illegal and bullying" practices.

He claimed the West remained determined to halt Iran's progress, using methods including "terrorist acts and sabotage."

"Today we have reached a point of complete maturity where we possess and benefit from all the necessary elements of the nuclear fuel cycle," Eslami said, adding that the West "cannot tolerate this matter" and sought to intensify opposition and interference.

Eslami described enrichment as the foundation of the nuclear industry, stating that without it, nuclear fuel could not be achieved.

He claimed the West [referring to the US] argued Iran had no right to Iranian reactors, saying: "They say you should have no industry at all, though they've written that you can have power plants but must always import their fuel."

Eslami accused Israel of being "an accelerating factor that certainly undermines America," describing it as an intellectual current dominating US political processes and decision-making that sought Iran's destruction through maximum pressure.

He said another faction in America advocated accepting Iran's reality and engaging with it, but lacked media influence.

Eslami claimed that US content-producing institutions generated material against Iran, focusing on nuclear breakout and bombs.

Without the fuel cycle and reactor design and construction capabilities, Iran could not claim to be nuclear, he said, adding that growth in activities and capacity strengthening had increased sixfold.

Eslami said enrichment percentage held no particular importance, noting that the Tehran reactor used by Iran was built by Americans, whilst Canada and America operated with 90% enriched fuel.

He described 20% fuel as essential for research reactors, claiming Iran had proven its unilateral confidence-building and adhered to the nuclear deal unilaterally for a year and a half.

Eslami stated that Iran's achievements resulted from efforts by its own citizens, claiming Western assertions were untrue and that they believed progress and development should occur under their own banner.