21/7 Tass 296
MOSCOW, July 21 (Itar-Tass) — Russia waits for Iran’s response when it is convenient to launch the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.
“As we know the Bushehr plant is expected to be launched in the short run. I cannot specify the exact date,” the diplomat said.
“I can only say Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin assessed the situation in such a way: we’d like to listen to Iran’s wishes when it is convenient to launch the facility,” Lukashevich stressed.
On Wednesday, June 20, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad-Mehdi Akhoondzadeh told Itar-Tass that Russian and Iranian officials were ending talks on the date of launching the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
“Cooperation on the Bushehr project is coming to its end. Russian officials are taking good steps in this direction,” the Iranian minister said.
“I believe that energy, which is being produced by the Bushehr plant, will go into Iran’s electric system. Officials are holding talks on this issue [the launch of the plant],” Akhoondzadeh said.
A week ago a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass that the work on the Bushehr nuclear power plant was proceeding according to the schedule. The plant should be launched in the summer. “Both parties seek to launch the plant in the summer,” the source said.
“Works proceed as scheduled, there are no complications,” the source went on. “We hope the many-years’ efforts on the Bushehr nuclear power plant project will be duly assessed by all, including as a contribution to the strengthening of the non-proliferation regimen that allows the state to have the right to peaceful use of atomic energy.”