Russia to finish Iran nuclear plant but won't deliver missiles
Russia said it will soon make a long-delayed Iran nuclear power plant fully operational. The move was part of a deal within Russia to finish the plant while canceling a controversial sale of an advanced missile system to Tehran.
In this photo, the reactor building of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant is seen, just outside the port city of Bushehr, 750 miles south of the capital, Tehran, in this Nov. 30, 2009, file photo. Russia's nuclear agency spokesman, Sergei Novikov, said Friday fuel will be loaded into Iran's first nuclear power plant next week, marking the start of its launch.
Mehdi Ghasemi/ISNA/AP/File
Moscow
The controversial Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran has been an on-again, off-again project for years as Russia, the plant's builder, has dragged its feet in an effort to allay international concerns over Iran's alleged nuclear-weapons drive.
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But on Friday, Russia's state nuclear agency, Rosatom, announced that in one week's time it will load nuclear fuel into Bushehr's Russian-made reactor, which is the first step to making it fully operational.
"The fuel will be charged in the reactor on 21 August. From this moment, Bushehr will be considered a nuclear installation," said Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov, in a terse announcement. "This will be an irreversible step."
Why the change of tune?
Experts say the decision probably represents a compromise in a long-running dispute among Russian policymakers over what to do about Iran. And, despite appearances, the decision to finish Bushehr probably reflects a defeat for hard-liners who favor stronger military and political ties with Tehran.
In recent months, Kremlin insiders who favor better relations with the United States and a more Westernized course for Russian foreign policy have gained the upper hand, analysts say.
In June, Russia moved briskly toward the US position by backing a fourth round of United Nations sanctions against Iran over its failure to stop enriching uranium – a key step toward attaining nuclear weapons capability. The measures include financial controls and a tough arms embargo.
Nuclear plant, but no missiles
Russia's acceptance of the new sanctions compels it to shelve a lucrative contract to provide advanced S-300 air defense systems, roughly comparable to the US Patriot missile, under an $800-million contract that was signed between Moscow and Tehran in 2005, but repeatedly delayed by the Kremlin for apparently diplomatic reasons.
"The S-300 was the subject of a fierce struggle inside the corridors of Russian power, and a lot of people in our military-industrial complex warned that failure to deliver the weapons as agreed would ruin our competitive position in the world's arms market," says Sergei Strokan, a foreign policy columnist with the Moscow daily Kommersant newspaper.
