Iranian nuclear plant delayed over payment failures

The state-run Russian company building Iran’s first nuclear power plant said the reactor’s launch will be postponed because of Iranian payment delays.

Russian media reports, meanwhile, indicated that the Kremlin was growing tired of Iran’s nuclear defiance in the face of UN Security Council sanctions, with three news agencies citing an unidentified official warning Iran to cooperate and stop playing “anti-American games”.

Russia, which has remained close to Iran even as it defied international demands to stop enriching uranium, has accused Iran of paying only a fraction of the €18.3m monthly payments for construction work at the Bushehr reactor in recent months.

Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia’s federal nuclear agency Rosatom, said the launch date would be postponed by at least two months because the Iranians had made no payments since January 17.

“The funding is two months behind, and that means a corresponding delay in schedule,” Mr Novikov said. “The fact remains there is no money and it’s impossible to keep construction works going without money.”

Russia also said the delay of the launch, which had been planned for September, means that the uranium fuel needed to power the Bushehr reactor would not be sent to Iran this month as earlier planned, an announcement certain to anger Tehran.

Iranian officials have rejected Russia’s claims, saying Tehran has fulfilled its obligations under the €731.9m contract and suggesting Moscow is bowing to international pressure to take a tougher line against the Islamic regime.

Talks in Moscow between officials of Atomstroiexport, the state-run Russian company building the plant, and an Iranian nuclear delegation ended in failure on Friday as the parties were unable to agree on resolving the funding dispute.

“It will be impossible to launch the reactor in September, and there can be no talk about supplying fuel this month,” Atomstroiexport said. It accused the Iranians of failing to give a written obligation to resume funding for the project.

Iran has urged Russia to speed up the fuel delivery, but Russian officials said it would only be delivered six months before the plant’s launch.