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Khatami To Sign Second Nuclear Deal With Russia
SAINT PETERSBURG, March 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iran is ready to sign a contract with Russia to build a second nuclear reactor despite U.S. fears that Tehran could use the technology to develop nuclear bombs, an official said Thursday.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami raised the possibility during a visit here to a Russian factory that supplies equipment for the first reactor being built at the Bushehr nuclear plant, factory director Yevgeny Sergeyev told journalists.
"The Iranian president confirmed that all the equipment for the first reactor at Bushehr would be delivered [by Russia], and that a new contract to supply a second reactor could be signed," Sergeyev said.
Khatami paid a 30-minute visit Thursday to the Izhorsky factory, inspecting the shop floor where Russian nuclear reactors are constructed, but left without talking to waiting journalists.
"Khatami understands this subject very well. His questions were very to the point," added Sergeyev, who accompanied the Iranian president on his tour of the factory.
Russia was originally commissioned to build the first Bushehr nuclear reactor in January 1994, after the German firm Siemens pulled out of an earlier contract in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Sergeyev said the first reactor had originally been scheduled for completion by the end of 2002, but had now been put back to late 2003 or early 2004. Russia and Iran have been in talks before over the construction of a second reactor, according to MSNBC.
Under the original contract, its construction will earn Russia $800 million to $1 billion.
The United States has repeatedly criticized Russia for collaborating on the Bushehr project, which it fears could help Tehran develop nuclear weapons.
But Moscow and Tehran maintain that the Bushehr nuclear plant is for civilian use only and that there are no grounds for worry.
The deal for the first nuclear plant was signed in the mid-1990s. Last week, the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Assadollah Sabouri, was quoted on state television as criticizing Russian contractors for hold-ups, adds MSNBC.
President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Khatami Monday that the two leaders had not only discussed ways to speed up completion of the Bushehr project but also longer-term help for Iran in developing its nuclear capacity.
"Iran has plans to expand its nuclear energy sector on the basis of international agreements. The Russian Federation is interested and ready to take part in such work," Putin said.
Khatami had also expressed an interest in purchasing Russian oil-refining equipment, Sergeyev said after Thursday's visit to the Saint Petersburg industrial complex.
The Iranian leader later flew to Kazan, where he was expected to hold talks with Mintimer Shaimiyev, the president of the largely Muslim republic of Tatarstan, on the final leg of his four-day visit to Russia.
There was no word on if Khatami broached the subject of Chechnya.
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