Russia determined to build nuclear power plant in Iran, despite U.S. opposition

Published June 29th, 2002 - 03:00 GMT

Russia will complete the construction of atomic power plant in Iran despite opposition from Washington, Russia's Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said.

According to Rumyantsev, Russia had no joint nuclear projects with Iran besides the construction of the Bushehr plant in the south of the country, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

"I can guarantee that we do not cooperate in military uses of nuclear energy at all," Rumyantsev added.

However, "this issue will still be raised in our talks with the United States, which are concerned that Iran may get hold of nuclear weapons," the minister admitted.

The United States and Israel fear that the Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation could enable Tehran to acquire the technology needed to build nuclear weapons. (Albawaba.com)