Iran agrees timetable with Russia for nuclear fuel delivery

Sep 6, 2007, 11:55 GMT

Tehran - Iran has agreed with Russia on fixing a timetable for nuclear fuel delivery to the joint nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr, Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Thursday.

'We have reached good agreemens with Russia over Bushehr, including fixing a timetable for timely nuclear fuel delivery,' the website of state-television IRIB quoted Larijani as saying.

Iran's presidential press chief Ali-Akbar Javanfekr had last week told the Russian daily Gazeta that although Iran was interested in having Russia finish the plant, it was considering other candidates as well.

Tehran officials however later modified Javanfekr's remarks and said the country would still trust Russia in completing the Bushehr plant

The Iranian-Russian joint project was originally supposed to be completed at the beginning of the millennium but has been delayed at least five times for various reasons.

The most recent agreement between the two sides, signed last September in Moscow, envisioned the supply of nuclear fuel in March 2007, the physical launch of the plant in September and the energy launch in November this year.

Russian contractor Atomstroiexport, which is building the Bushehr plant, announced earlier this year that there would be another delay due to a financial dispute with Tehran. Iran, however, rejected the claims and said all payments had been made on time.