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Moscow: Reports of a possible delay in launching the reactor Russia is building for Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr are unfounded, the Russian nuclear equipment export monopoly, Atomstroiexport, said Wednesday.
Atomstroiexport chief Sergei Shmatko said the NPP will be launched on schedule in September 2007, dismissing Tuesday's statement from a nuclear industry official who said the launch may be postponed if the Iranian side fails to meet some unspecified commitments.
Both announcements come ahead of the Iranian Foreign Minister's trip to Russia. Manouchehr Mottaki is due in Moscow Thursday for a two-day visit that will include talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
The Bushehr facility has been a source of international dispute in the context of Iran's controversial nuclear ambitions, with the United States and other Western countries raising concerns that Iran may use the project to develop nuclear weapons.
To assuage those concerns, Russia suggested earlier this year setting up a joint venture for enriching Iranian uranium on it soil. But the nuclear industry official said Tuesday that the idea may never materialize, citing lack of interest on Iran's part.
Following Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment activities in exchange for a package of incentives, European countries proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution introducing sanctions, including restrictions on nuclear fuel supplies to the Bushehr plant.
As a veto-wielding permanent Council member consistently defending Iran's right to generate nuclear power for civilian use, Russia spoke against the European draft and proposed amendments to soften it.
