Iran begins designing nuclear subs

TEHRAN , Iran (AP) — A semiofficial Iranian news agency is reporting that the country has begun to design its first nuclear submarine.

The Tuesday report by Fars quotes the deputy navy chief in charge of technical affairs, Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini, as saying Iran has begun “initial stages” of designing the nuclear-powered craft.

Rear Adm. Zamini says Iran has developed “peaceful nuclear technology” and that the right to civilian uses of nuclear power includes military nuclear submarines.

Iran and the West are odds over Tehran’s nuclear program. The US suspects it is aimed at developing weapons technology, a charge Iran denies.

Iran has domestically built several small submarines over the past years. It has recently overhauled one of the three non-nuclear Russian Kilo-class submarines it bought in the 1990s.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.