Iran plans to build "four to five" nuclear research reactors and will continue to enrich uranium to provide their fuel

Iran plans to build "four to five" nuclear research reactors and will continue to enrich uranium to provide their fuel, a nuclear official said on Monday.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Fereydoon Abbasi, said Tehran would build the reactors "in the next few years" to produce medical radioisotopes, according to the students news agency ISNA.

"To provide the fuel for these (new) reactors, we need to continue with the 20 percent enrichment of uranium," ISNA quoted him as saying.

Abbasi also said the country would increase the amount of its uranium enriched up to 20 percent whenever needed. "We will also raise the amount of the enriched uranium up to 20 percent based on our country's need and for doing so, we will not seek anybody's permission," he said.

Iran, a major oil producer, says it wants only LEU for the running of nuclear power plants to boost its electricity supply.