On Sunday October 20, 2019, Ali Asghar Zarean, a special assistant to the chief of Iran’s Energy Organization, said that the secondary circuit of the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor would be ready within two weeks. This would not be in violation of the restrictions placed on Iran’s nuclear power under the JCPOA. Iran has the capacity to produce up to 25 tons of heavy water per year, which can be employed in reactors to produce plutonium, a fuel used in nuclear warheads. Despite having nuclear technology, Iran has never pursued building or using nuclear weapons as it is forbidden by its religion, the country’s highest political authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in early October.