Iran demands Russia deliver nuclear fuel by February 2007 (Roundup)

Dec 11, 2006, 16:40 GMT

Tehran - Iran on Monday demanded from Russia the delivery of nuclear fuel for the joint Russian-Iranian nuclear power plant project at Bushehr, southern Iran by February 2007.

'The fuel supply is to be delivered as scheduled by February (next year),' the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, said after a meeting with Russia's Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko.

An agreement for the supply of fuel rods to Iran was signed by the two sides in February last year ensuring operation of Bushehr's 1,000-megawatt reactor for at least ten years.

Another agreement was signed at the same time obliging Iran to return the waste to Russia for storage.

Observers say that one of the disagreements between the two sides and one of the main reasons for the delay is the high price Moscow is demanding from Teheran for the return and storage of the waste.

Aqazadeh refrained to say what Iran would do if Russia once again failed to deliver the fuel as scheduled.

'We have agreed that the Bushehr plant will be completed as scheduled (September 2007),' said Aqazadeh, who is also vice- president.

Kiryenko said that Russia would do its best to complete the Bushehr plant but added that some equipment manufactured by third countries were needed for the completion and Iran should therefore cover the necessary financial resources needed by Russia to finish the plant.

Aqazadeh said Iran agreed with the extra costs, adding that the Islamic state would grant Russia priority for further nuclear projects in Iran.

The head of Russia's nuclear energy agency heard renewed calls in Tehran on Monday for the swift completion of the Bushehr plant.

'We consider the completion of Bushehr as symbolic for bilateral ties,' Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said during a joint press conference with Kiriyenko.

The first phase of the 800-million-dollar project in the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr was to have been completed by Russia in 1999, but has been subject to numerous delays. Latest agreements between the two sides schedule the plant's opening for September 2007.

Mottaki also referred to Moscow's offer to enrich uranium on Russian soil for Iranian energy purposes, made in a bid to resolve the international row over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and said 'the initiative was still under evaluation by Tehran.'

Kiriyenko said at the same conference though an interpreter that Russia also preferred a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

'The right to pursue civil nuclear technology goes however along with the issue of non-proliferation,' the Russian official said. He added that Russia would be ready to cooperate with Iran on uranium enrichment in Russia.