A model of Bushehr's nuclear power plant in Iran

MOSCOW, May 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Russia has invited the United States to join in the construction of the nuclear power station at Bushehr in Iran and Washington is considering the proposal, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumantsyev said Friday, May 30.

"We have made this proposal several times to our American colleagues in talks at expert level. For the moment, they are saying they have to consider," Rumantsyev said, as quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"There is scope for everyone," Rumantsyev noted, pointing out that Iran envisaged a power plant with six reactors whereas Moscow has contracted to supply just the first bloc.

"Development countries not only can but should help other countries that respect the non-proliferation regime and meet the requirements" of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the minister said.

Washington has been pressing Russia to break off all nuclear cooperation with Iran, and particularly its participation in the Bushehr power plant.

The United States accuses Tehran of using the construction of power plants as a cover for a nuclear weapons program, banned under the terms of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that Iran has signed along with 187 other countries.

It has recently begun accusing Iran - which it has designated, along with North Korea and Iraq prior to the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, as part of an "axis of evil" - of sheltering and aiding international “terrorists”.

Russia Thursday stressed that only the IAEA is qualified to determine whether Iran's nuclear program has a military component or not.

It said its construction program at Bushehr was based on "strict observation of its obligations with regard to non-proliferation."

The IAEA carries out inspections at Bushehr "literally every week," Rumantsyev said Friday.

The Iran issue is expected to feature prominently on the agenda of an informal summit between Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush in Saint Petersburg Sunday where the Russian and U.S. Presidents will be among more than 40 world leaders attending celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the city's founding.

On Thursday, a Russian newspaper reported that Washington has drawn up a plan for military action against Iran principally using bases in Iraq but also some in Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Rejecting U.S. pressure, Russia said Tuesday, May 27, that it intended to complete the construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant despite concern about Tehran's potential nuclear ambitions.

Russia "is satisfied with the pace of construction of the Bushehr plant, and is confident that the launch of its first block will be completed on time," Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said.

"So far, Russia does not see any reason for re-assessing its position concerning the construction of the first block," at Bushehr, he stressed during a meeting with Iran's deputy atomic energy minister Asadollah Saburi.

U.S. officials earlier said that Russia's controversial nuclear cooperation with Iran - to which Washington strongly objects - will be high on the agenda of the Putin-Bush June 1 talks.

In February, the United States renewed accusations that Iran was using its Bushehr light-water reactor project to advance a secret nuclear weapons program and called once again on Russia to stop construction.

And even while pressing ahead with the Bushehr project, a senior Russian official said Tuesday that he had expressed his concerns about Iran's military program during talks with the country's ambassador to Moscow.

"There was special attention paid to the present problem of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement following Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov's meeting with Iran's Gholamreza Shafei.

The statement said Mamedov "expressed concern about the existence of some serious questions that have not been cleared up by Iran concerning its nuclear program."