The startup of the first Iranian nuclear power plant, being built by Russian specialists in Bushehr, will take place in 2010, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed on Tuesday, adding that adjustment and alignment works were continuing, RIA Novosti reports.
Russian-Iranian cooperation in the sphere of civilian nuclear energy causes varied reactions in the West. Western nations suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons and in recent months have sought to toughen up sanctions previously imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council over Tehran's refusal to hold up the uranium enrichment. Iran rejects Western suspicions, claiming its nuclear program is of an exclusively peaceful nature.
