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TEHRAN: Iran complained on Sunday that financing problems at the Russian contractor building its first atomic plant were behind a string of delays and expressed concern Moscow could yield to US pressure to halt the work.
The Russian firm leading construction of the plant in the southern city of Busheher, Atomstroiexport, has signalled that completion of the facility and delivery of fuel could be delayed again because of late Iranian payments.
“The problem of the Russian company is one of a lack of money,” retorted Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's atomic energy agency.
“This goes beyond our legal engagements, but as we want the Bushehr power station to be finished as quickly as possible, it is necessary to solve this problem,” he told the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Under a deal reached between Tehran and Moscow last September, Russia was to deliver nuclear fuel to Iran in March, the power station would begin working in September and it would start producing energy in November.
The mutual acrimony and delays come amid pressure from the United States on Russia to cut its assistance for Iran's nuclear programme, which Washington alleges is aimed at making atomic weapons — a charge denied by Tehran.
“Today our nuclear question has become politicised. The start-up of Bushehr has had its delays and we hope that in the current situation the Russians will not politicise this question,” Aghazadeh said.
He claimed that the chief executive of the Russian company had “changed eight times” and that the firm had failed to use Tehran's payments properly.
“It is for this reason that they have liquidity problems. We always paid our financial obligations in advance,” he added.
Aghazadeh's comments came after talks between Atomstroiexport and Iranian officials in Moscow last week ended without agreement, with the Russian firm again accusing Tehran of failing to pay up on time.
Other Iranian officials, including Aghazadeh's deputy Mohammad Saeedi, also echoed concerns that Russia could start to respond to US pressure to halt work on the plant.
“If the fuel is not delivered in the next two weeks the question will move out of the technical and legal area, as at the current time everything has been done to allow the fuel to be sent,” said Saeedi.
“Only a limited number of pieces need to be installed for the plant to begin going into service in August,” he said, according to the ISNA news agency.
An adviser to Iran's top political arbitration body the Expediency Council, Rahman Ghakhemanpour, was even more explicit, saying that the real reason for the hold-ups to the plant was US pressure.
“The Russians talk about financial and technical reasons, but in reality they are under huge pressure from the United States to halt its relationship with Iran,” he said, according to ISNA.
Russia, while keen to maintain good ties with the United States, has traditionally had a strong economic relationship with Iran and acted to soften the UN Security Council's measures against its nuclear programme.
