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Minister: Iran expects Russia to defend country`s right to produce nuclear energy

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Feb 26, IRNA -- Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance 
Safdar Hosseini in a meeting with the Head of Russian Federal Atomic 
Energy Agency Alexander Rumyantsev here on Saturday said that Iran 
expects Russia to defend Iran`s legitimate right to produce its 
required atomic energy domestically. 
A report released by the Public Relations Department of the 
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance quoted Hosseini as saying 
that he reiterated the need to expand cooperation between the two 
countries, particularly in the nuclear field. 
Presiding over the Iran-Russia Economic Commission, the minister 
referred to the economic potentials of both sides and the mutually 
signed agreements and said, "Fortunately, following the fifth meeting 
of the joint economic commission held in Moscow, positive steps have 
been taken towards implementing the contents of the relevant protocol.
"The agreement on Zohreh satellite project, the memorandum of 
understanding (MoU) on Tajikistan`s Sang-Toudeh power station, the 
agreement on development of power grids in third countries, the accord
on formation of a joint commercial council, the agreement on 
Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway project by an Irano-Russian Consortium are
some of the recent achievements of the commission. 
Hosseini hoped that the agreement on the spent nuclear fuel of 
Bushehr Nuclear Power Station will be finalized and inked during 
Rumyantsev`s current visit. 
"Supply of the required energy from nuclear sources is one of 
Iran`s strategic policies. The implementation of Bushehr Nuclear Power
Plant by Russia is no doubt the first step towards such a goal and 
proves Russia`s crucial role in the move," he concluded. 
For his part, Rumyantsev referred to the protocol signed between 
the two states and said that the detailed schedule of the relevant 
protocol about the implementation of Bushehr Power Plant was ratified 
on February 21, 2005 and the process will soon be launched. 
"At present, talks are being held between Iran and Russia on the 
protocol to return the spent nuclear fuel to Russia, which I hope will
be finalized soon," he added. 
He noted that discussion on the spent nuclear fuel denotes that 
the construction of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is at its final stage 
and underlined that the relevant fuel agreement is expected to be 
signed shortly. 
The Russian official referred to Iran-Russia railway project due 
to pass through Azerbaijan and expansion of cooperation in the fields 
of nuclear sciences, technology, medicine and culture as Russia`s 
favorite grounds of collaboration. 
Turning to Tabas thermal power station, he said that this is one 
of the success joint projects currently underway. 
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