Iran Offers Russia Chance to Build more Nuclear Reactors

02/07/2003| IslamWeb

Iran's atomic energy chief Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh, offered Russia a chance to build more nuclear power stations in the Islamic state amid global consternation that Moscow's ongoing cooperation with Tehran is helping it develop nuclear weapons. Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh also said Wednesday the two sides were on the verge of signing a separate protocol that should finally open the way for the launch of the country's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr, which is being built by Russia, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported. "Beside Bushehr, we intend to build several more nuclear power stations with the overall power capacity of 6,000 megawatts, and we are offering Russia a chance to take up this opportunity," Aghazadeh said. Aghazadeh's comments appeared to refer to a memorandum Moscow and Tehran inked in July 2002. At the time, the Russian government voiced its right to build a second nuclear power plant in Iran and engage in long-term atomic cooperation with a country labeled by Washington as a member of an "axis of evil." The 2002 document said Russia intended to build all four reactors at the southern Bushehr plant -- only one is nearing completion so far -- along with two more 1,000 megawatt blocks in Ahvaz some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Iraqi border. But political analysts at the time said Russia was most likely voicing its right to an independent Iranian policy and was still likely to bend to US and Israeli pressure to curb the nuclear program. The 2002 declaration was published less than two weeks after Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev declared that Bushehr would be Russia's last nuclear project in Iran. There was no immediate reaction from Russian officials to Aghazadeh's latest offer, made at the end of a three-day visit to Moscow. Aghazadeh said the trip was "very successful and has been perceived in Iran with enthusiasm because Russia reaffirmed its willingness to cooperate with Iran in the nuclear sphere, as before." Russia has come under mounting pressure to reassess its policy on Iran -- a country sitting on vast oil reserves -- amid Western worries that Tehran is using the power station project to develop a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Moscow's response has been contradictory and difficult to read. Some Russian ministers insist that the projects will continue while President Vladimir Putin argues that Moscow is as concerned about Tehran's reported nuclear ambitions as the West. Moscow has been pressing Tehran to open up its nuclear program sites to UN inspectors -- something that Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov did again during his meeting with Aghazadeh on Monday. Iran says it is ready to allow closer UN inspections but only under the condition that other countries would in return assist it in developing a broader nuclear power program. That condition has been rejected by the United States. Meanwhile Moscow appears to be stalling Bushehr's construction and the project now is not due to go online in 2005 at the earliest. Some here see the delay as an indirect concession to Washington and Tehran has expressed impatience with Moscow as a result. The last stumbling block for Bushehr is the signature of a separate protocol forcing Iran to return all spent nuclear fuel material to Russia. The waste could theoretically be reprocessed to make nuclear weapons. Aghazadeh said that the new Russia-Iranian protocol was ready. "There are no vague points about the return of spent nuclear fuel," the Iranian atomic chief said. "This question has been discussed with the Russian authorities at all levels." Aghazadeh said that "in the nearest future Moscow and Tehran will announce a date on which the additional protocol on the return of nuclear waste (to Russia) will be signed." **PHOTO CAPTION*** Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov (L) and Iran's atomic energy chief, Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh meet in Moscow. (AFP/File/Maxim Marmur)