Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear company, announced that it would halt its work at Fordow. A senior Russian diplomat subsequently emphasised that “the work wasn’t abandoned, but only halted. The spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on 9 December remarked that “we can technically continue the work related to the production of stable isotopes without the Russians; however, politically speaking, it would be better if Russians stay with us… We are sure that the Russians will not abandon their projects in Iran in the wake of the U.S.’s sanctions, because they are currently involved in the construction of Bushehr-2 and -3 power plants”.