Russia's Atomic Energy Minister: Nothing obstructs ongoing construction of power plant in Bushehr

Speaking from the point of view of international law, there is nothing to obstruct the ongoing construction of a power plant in Bushehr, Iran, Russia's Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev told RIA Novosti.

According to his words, a session of top executives from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which opens in Vienna on June 16, is going to focus on various possible questions to Iran.

Russia's top priority lies with the checks conducted by the IAEA, an organization whose guarantees cover all of Iran's nuclear facilities, the minister stressed.

"So far this international organization of considerable authority has nothing to say against Iran," he emphasized.

He reminded RIA Novosti that Russia had been taking an active part in the effort to work out a Protocol to supplement the agreement on IAEA guarantees in connection with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, or the NPT.

"Our position that every party to the NPT must sign this Protocol remains unchanged," Rumyantsev stressed. "This goes not only for Iran, but for the other countries as well," he added, explaining that the Protocol on Return of Spent Nuclear Fuel to Russia and the Protocol supplementing the agreement on IAEA guarantees were not one and the same thing.

"As for Russia's cooperation with Iran in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy, we shall be delivering fuel to Bushehr only after we have signed a Protocol of Additions to the agreement envisaging return of spent nuclear fuel from Iran," he said. "Russian Atomic Energy Ministry spokesmen have said this before." The agreement the sides reached on the subject has already been publicly announced, he added.