Last update - 00:00 12/03/2007
Launch of Iranian nuclear plant delayed due to missed payments
By Reuters
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station will not be launched in September and nuclear fuel will not be delivered to the station this month as earlier planned, the Russian contractor said Monday, blaming the hold-up on unpaid bills.
"The lack of financing from the Iranian side means that Atomstroiexport did not receive payments for two months," Irina Yesipova, a spokeswoman for Russian state-owned contractor said by telephone.
"This means the timeframe has been moved and so the launch cannot happen in September - we simply cannot do it. If we can't launch the station in September then we cannot deliver the fuel according to the old timetable either."
Moscow and Tehran have been bickering publicly over what Russia says are tens of millions of dollars in delayed payments for its work on Bushehr, Iran's first nuclear power station.
Iran denies it has missed payments on the plant, a sensitive project as Tehran has come under pressure from the United States and the European Union over its nuclear ambitions.
Report: 'Informed' Russian source blasts Iran
Meanwhile, Russian news agencies quoted "an informed source" in Moscow as saying that Iran is abusing Russia's stance on its nuclear program.
"Unfortunately, the Iranians are abusing our constructive relations," the agencies quoted the source as saying.
The source added Iran "cannot play forever" on its good relations with Russia.
"It is unacceptable for us to have an Iran with a nuclear bomb or the potential to create one," the source said.
The comments were reported by Russia's three main news agencies. Senior government officials often brief the agencies anonymously to send messages to foreign governments.
The United States is pushing for tougher sanctions on Iran because it believes Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, an allegation Iran has denied.
Russia has tried to soften the sanctions, arguing engagement with Iran is more productive than confrontation.
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