Russia vows to launch IranÂ’s N-plant
TEHRAN: RussiaÂ’s security chief Igor Ivanov vowed to launch IranÂ’s nuclear plant on schedule in September after talks in Tehran on Sunday with leaders of the Islamic republic.
“Russia is determined and serious in fulfilling its obligation to finish Bushehr plant on the scheduled date,” Ivanov was quoted as saying after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Ivanov, the secretary of RussiaÂ’s Security Council, also met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and IranÂ’s national security chief and top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
IranÂ’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also emphasised the need to complete the nuclear plant on time after receiving Ivanov, who delivered a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Cooperation and previous commitments should gain momentum and be carried out,” Khamenei was quoted as saying on state television.
He was due to hold a press conference later on Sunday. Russia supports IranÂ’s right to peaceful nuclear technology but voted for a UN Security Council resolution in December that imposes sanctions on Tehran over its repeated refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.
Iran gave conflicting signals about its nuclear work on Saturday with its atomic energy agency denying a statement by a senior MP that Tehran had started to install 3,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium.
The head of parliament’s foreign affairs and national security commission, Alaeddin Borujerdi, said: “We are now installing the 3,000 centrifuges,” according to the official IRNA news agency.
But Hossein Cimorgh, public relations director of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, told IRNA: “No new centrifuge machines have been installed in the Natanz facility.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticised Washington for “hardline” policies and threats to bypass the United Nations in taking new measures against Iran’s nuclear programme.
Unilateral measures “damage the joint work on Iran and our joint goal of getting Tehran to restart negotiations,” he said on Saturday.
Iran said on Sunday it needed time to review a suggestion by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency for a ‘timeout’ under which Iranian nuclear work and UN sanctions would be suspended together.
“Iran needs time to review such an initiative to see whether it has the capacity to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue,” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, told a news conference when asked about the ‘timeout’ proposal.
