Moscow urged to ship nuclear fuel

Moscow: A top Iranian nuclear negotiator urged Russia yesterday to ship nuclear fuel this month for a Russian-built power plant, but Moscow signalled that it would not do so because of a funding dispute with Tehran.

The vice-president of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mohammad Saeedi, told state-run Vesti-24 television Tehran was ready to provide more funds to enable the nuclear plant in Bushehr, Iran, to be launched in September as planned. He called on Russia to deliver uranium fuel for the plant this month, as earlier agreed.

Saeedi's statement followed three days of talks in Moscow that failed to resolve a financial dispute. Russia said last month that Iran in recent months had paid only a fraction of the required monthly payments of $25 million (Dh91 million) for construction work.

A Russian official said yesterday the Iranians had offered to increase funding for the project during the talks, but refused to sign a document containing the pledge.

Iranian officials rejected the Russian claims that Tehran had failed to meet the payment schedule, and suggested Moscow was caving in to international pressure to take a tougher line on Iran amid the continued standoff over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities that some governments say are part of an effort to develop nuclear weapons.