Russia presses Iran to pay for nuclear plant

Moscow, Mar 16: Russia, which is locked in a dispute over money with Iran over the Bushehr nuclear power plant, reminded the Islamic Republic today that it should pay up if it wants to see the project completed.

Russia has warned the September launch date for Iran's first nuclear power station would be missed and nuclear fuel not delivered this month as planned because Iran has fallen behind with payments.

Tehran denies there have been payment delays.

''No one builds nuclear stations for free. We are not going to complete the construction of the station on our own account,'' Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state atomic agency Rosatom, told journalists.

Kiriyenko warned against ''too much clamour'' about the dispute.

''Commercial matters are not resolved through discussion in the mass media,'' he said.

A Russian nuclear industry source told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Moscow and Tehran had so far failed to reach agreement at their talks in Tehran, and the negotiations would probably continue next week.

Russia's involvement in Bushehr, in southwest Iran, has clouded Moscow's relations with the West, which says Iran's nuclear programme conceals a plan to produce nuclear weapons.

The world's fourth biggest oil exporter denies the charge and says it only wants to produce electricity.

Reuters