A member of Iranian parliament's Industries and Mines Committee said Tuesday that Iran has a plan to use nuclear fuel to power its vessels.

Talking to the semi-official Fars news agency, Allahverdi Dehqani made the remarks and urged the government to enrich uranium to a level that can support the powering of vessels.

He said it is the western sanctions, including a ban on supplying fuel to Iranian vessels, that forced the country to plan to substitute nuclear fuel for fossil fuel "so that the Iranian vessels won't need to refuel for long-distance voyage."

"The government should enrich uranium to the necessary level to supply fuel for such ships since we cannot cut our trade relations with other countries," Dehqani told Fars.

Several Iranian lawmakers said recently they have prepared a draft bill urging the government to design nuclear-powered merchant ships, in order to avert western sanctions which ban other countries from refuelling Iranian ships.

Lawmaker Mehrdad Bazrpash said Sunday that according to the plan, the country's oil tankers and warships will be able to sail long distances without refuelling, reported Fars. Iran has also said several times it will build some nuclear submarines. The Western powers, fearful that Iran may use its nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear bombs, have recently tightened sanctions on Tehran, including the EU's oil embargo that has been in force since July 1.