| Bushehr incident changes oil prices Yesterday, a powerful explosion occurred in the southern province of Bushehr near the port city of Dailam. A representative of the Iranian Ministry of Internal Affairs denied the assumption that the explosion was caused by enemy, that is, Israeli or American fire. According to him, most likely the incident occurred due to the fall of an outboard fuel tank from an Iranian military aircraft. It is also possible that friendly fire was opened from the ground by mistake. “Several cases of such friendly fire have been recorded in recent days,” emphasized the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result, the official version came down to an explosion during “construction work.”
The nervousness of Iranian air defense is understandable. Tensions are growing over Iran's nuclear program. The United States and Israel declare the possibility of a forceful solution to the Iranian nuclear problem. America’s anger also arouses Tehran’s yesterday’s promise to “comprehensively help Syria to counter the threats.” Damascus is another target for possible US military action.
The first version of yesterday's explosion in Bushehr was a rocket attack from an unidentified aircraft. This was reported by the Iranian television station Al-Alam. If this information is confirmed, the world could be on the verge of an armed conflict. Therefore, yesterday the Israeli leadership hastened to declare its non-involvement in the incident. The US government said it also had no information about the missile strike. World oil prices immediately reacted to the message about the explosion - within half an hour, the price of Brent oil on the London International Petroleum Exchange increased from 45.45 to 46.55 dollars per barrel.
And 100 km from Daylam, where the explosion occurred, Russian specialists are completing the construction of the first Iranian nuclear power plant. As a source at Rosatom told Vremya Novostey yesterday, no Russian specialists were injured as a result of yesterday’s explosion. In total, more than a thousand specialists from Russia and Ukraine work in Bushehr under a contract with the general construction contractor - the Russian company Atomstroyexport.
The launch of the facility, worth $800 million, is scheduled for the end of 2005. Washington and Tel Aviv fear that the Bushehr nuclear power plant is part of Tehran's secret plan to acquire nuclear weapons. Hypothetically, now is the best moment to destroy the station: there is no nuclear fuel at the facility yet, damage and release of which during bombing could lead to unpredictable consequences.
Supplies of nuclear fuel to Bushehr from Russia could begin in just a few days, at the beginning of March. On February 25, the head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Alexander Rumyantsev, is heading to Iran. “The visit is being prepared and will take place on schedule,” Rosatom officials told VN yesterday. An agreement will be signed in Iran on the supply of nuclear fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the subsequent return of spent fuel back to Russia. Fuel supplies to Iran can begin immediately after the agreement is signed. Moscow is confident that Iran's commitment to return spent fuel to Russia guarantees the peaceful nature of the Bushehr project. Moreover, Russia is counting on new nuclear orders from Iran.
Yesterday, during a visit to Algeria, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rouhani said that Iran intends to build seven new nuclear power plants to "diversify its fuel and energy base." According to VN, Hassan Rouhani will fly straight from Algeria to Moscow. Nuclear cooperation with Russia and a possible visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tehran this year will be discussed. Andrey ZLOBIN |
|
