Yesterday, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani called on Russia to fulfill its obligations on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr and the supply of nuclear fuel for it on time. The Russian federal agency Rosatom announced on Monday that it would delay fuel deliveries to Tehran due to insufficient Iranian funding for the construction of the nuclear power plant. According to the Russian side, Iran stopped payments on January 17, 2007. The head of the Rosatom press service, Sergei Novikov, confirmed that due to Tehran’s termination of funding, the first nuclear reactor in Bushehr may not be launched in September, as planned, but two months later.
Larijani expressed regret over the delay in the launch of the nuclear power plant: “The promises made by the Russian government must be fulfilled on time.” Today in Tehran, difficult negotiations will continue at the expert level on resuming financing for the construction of the first power unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. In an official statement released yesterday in Tehran, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization noted that “the government and people of Iran expect the Russian government to supply nuclear fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant in accordance with its obligations by the end of March 2007.”
Victor VOLODIN
First money, then nuclear power plant • Vremya novostej • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive
