Putin: Iran ’s new nuclear plant to start up soon

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Het is niet in het belang van Rusland een zwakke, of verzwakte, buur te
hebben aan grens.

Groet / Cees

Putin: Iran’s new nuclear plant to start up soon
[ 19 Mar 2010 06:54 ]
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=118284

Baku - APA Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Iran’s new
Russian-built nuclear power plant will begin operating this summer, even
as the United States called for Russia to delay the startup, APA reports
quoting “Associated Press”.
In apparent response, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton —
in Moscow on an official trip — urged Russia not to start up the plant
until Tehran proves that it’s not developing atomic weapons.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a joint news conference
with Clinton, immediately stepped in to say that Russia would put the
reactor online.
Putin, who is expected to meet with Clinton Friday, was on a trip to
southern Russia when he said Moscow was committed to starting operations
at the Iranian atomic power plant.
"The first reactor at Iran’s nuclear power plant in Bushehr is to be
launched already in the summer," Putin said.
He didn’t mention an exact startup date or add any other details during
his meeting with nuclear officials in the city of Volgodonsk. Both Putin
and President Dmitry Medvedev are expected to meet with Clinton Friday.
Russia signed a $1 billion contract in 1995 for building the Bushehr
plant, but it has dragged its feet on completing the project for years.
Moscow has cited technical reasons for the delays, but analysts said
Moscow has used the project to press Tehran to ease its defiance over
its nuclear program.
Some Iranian lawmakers have accused Russia of delaying the project under
the Western pressure.
Later, Clinton urged Russia to postpone the plant startup until Iran
proves it is not trying to build nuclear weapons.
"If it reassures the world, or if its behavior is changed because of
international sanctions, then they can pursue peaceful, civil nuclear
power," Clinton said when asked about Russian intention to start Bushehr.
"In the absence of those reassurances, we think it would be premature to
go forward with any project at this time, because we want to send an
unequivocal message to the Iranians," she said at a briefing following
her talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov immediately responded that Russia still intends to start up the
plant.
"The project will be completed, and now we have entered a final phase of
technological preparations," he said, adding that the plant has been
closely supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Lavrov said that the Bushehr project is essential for persuading Iran to
cooperate with the IAEA and fulfill its obligations under international
nuclear nonproliferation agreements.
Russia has walked a fine line on Iran for years. It is one of the six
powers leading international efforts to ensure Iran does not develop an
atomic bomb.
Russia has backed three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran
over its uranium enrichment program in the past. In recent months, it
has signaled that it could support a new round of sanctions on condition
they don’t harm the population.
But it also has tried to maintain friendly ties with the Islamic
Republic, a regional power close to Russia’s vulnerable southern flank.

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