Russia committed to build Bushehr nuclear plant: Iran

September 28th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia will seek a stake in the Belene nuclear power plant being built by a Russian company in northern Bulgaria, Russia's nuclear chief said Monday. "If Bulgaria announces a tender for its stake in the Belene NPP, we'll participate in it," Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state-run civilian nuclear power corporation Rosatom, said in an interview with Bulgarian newspaper Standart.

July 22nd, 2009 Reports: Iran reactor to be switched on this yearMOSCOW — Russian news agencies quote the country's nuclear agency chief as saying a Russian-built nuclear power reactor in Iran is still set to be switched on this year. State-run RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass quote Sergei Kiriyenko as saying plans remain for a start-up of the reactor near the Iranian city of Bushehr by the end of the year.

June 10th, 2009 Reports: Russia says bank problems delay BushehrMOSCOW — The head of the Russian company building Iran's first nuclear power plant said Wednesday that it is unclear when the reactor will be switched on, Russian news agencies reported, potentially casting doubt on Iranian hopes for a startup before the end of the year. The nearly finished plant near the city of Bushehr is part of a nuclear program Iran says is purely peaceful but the U.S.

April 9th, 2009 ISFAHAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday inaugurated the country's first nuclear fuel manufacturing plant (FMP) located near this central Iranian city. The FMP, reportedly based solely on work by Iranian experts, is to provide the Arak 40-megawatt research reactor with fuel, producing nuclear fuel tablets, rods and assemblies for the plant, which is to be launched within the next two or three years.

March 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Russia Sunday submitted a proposal to the Bangladeshi government to build a nuclear power plant in the country, the Russian ambassador here said. The proposal was formally submitted to Bangladesh's Science Minister Yeafesh Osman.

February 28th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran would be able to put its Bushehr nuclear power plant into operation on its own if Russia refused to do so, a former Iranian president said Friday. 'Iran's enemies must know that such achievements as putting a satellite into orbit and uranium enrichment prove beyond all doubt that Iran can put the Bushehr nuclear power plant into service with its own resources if the Russians do not do so,' Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said after Friday prayers in Teheran.

February 27th, 2009 BUSHEHR - Tehran and Moscow were discussing a deal under which Russia would deliver nuclear fuel to Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushehr for ten years, Iranian news agency Mehr reported Thursday quoting Sergei Kiriyenko, chief executive officer of Russian nuclear company Rosatom. Kiriyenko made the remarks Wednesday in a joint news conference with Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).

February 26th, 2009 BUSHEHR - Russia has completed the construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushehr and is launching start-up operations, the head of Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom said Wednesday. The plant in south Iran, which Russia undertook to finish as part of a 1998 contract, was originally scheduled to go on line at the end of 2006, but the date has been pushed back several times.

February 25th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran will test its first nuclear power plant Wednesday near the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr. The Russian-built nuclear power plant, some 15 km south of Bushehr City, is expected to generate 1,000 megawatt of electricity.

February 24th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran has said it will turn on its Russian-built nuclear power plant in the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr for a test run Wednesday. A test run of the Bushehr nuclear plant will be conducted Feb 25 in the presence of Russia's atomic energy corporation Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko and Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation (AEO) chief Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, an AEO spokesman said.

February 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia has said it will not change its policy towards Iran under pressure from Europe and the US, IRNA reported Tuesday. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said: 'Despite some countries which demanded for a change in Russia's policy on Iran, Russian officials see no reason for doing so.' The Russian leader was referring to the recent Munich Security Conference in Germany where some European leaders urged Russia to change its stand on Iran, which they believe is trying to make a nuclear weapon.

February 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - The Iranian defence minister, now visiting Moscow, is seeking advanced surface-to-air missiles that could help Iran counter air strikes, a Russian newspaper reported Tuesday. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar met with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov on 'current and future issues of bilateral military relations', the Russian defence ministry said.

February 10th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Wednesday hailed US President Barack Obama's 'fresh' approach on Iran, in the latest sign of a thaw in US-Russian ties. 'We are paying particular attention to the declared intention of the new (US) administration to begin a direct dialogue with Iran,' Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying at a press conference with EU officials.

February 5th, 2009 MOSCOW - Iran's nuclear reactor built by Russia at Bushehr will be switched by the end of this year, the head of Russia's state nuclear energy agency said Thursday. 'We are moving according to schedule,' Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters in a Kremlin briefing.

January 13th, 2009 MOSCOW - Iran is confident that Russia will fulfil its commitment of building its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran's envoy to Russia has said. 'Iran did not believe that the Russian side has deliberately delayed completion of the 1,000-MW power plant in Bushehr,' Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi told a Russian newspaper, the IRNA news agency reported.