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Under the agreement, experts from the United States and China were to help Iran redesign the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces as a byproduct. The head of Iran's nuclear agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, was quoted by state TV on Wednesday as saying British experts would fill in for the American ones.

"The United States has been replaced with the United Kingdom in a working group that is tasked with re-building Arak heavy reactor," Salehi said, as quoted by the official FARS news agency.

Salehi added that he hoped a second reactor in Bushehr would become operational within six years, followed shortly after by a third.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the landmark nuclear agreement in May, saying it did not go far enough in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. European countries have been trying to salvage the agreement, which was also signed by Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.

Following the comprehensive sanctions programme  launched by the US, in which firms which do business in Iran will not be allowed to operate in America, many companies have scrapped lucrative contracts in the Islamic Republic.

On top of the sanctions, which also apply to oil, one of Iran's most valuable exports, the riyal has plummeted sparked widespread economic woes.

Agencies contributed to this report. 

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