MOSCOW - Russia in March will start delivering nuclear fuel for the plant it is building in Iran, the head of a state company in charge of the project said Monday, according to Russian news reports.

Atomstroexport's head Sergei Shmatko said during a trip to Tehran that he and Iranian officials had discussed financial problems related to the completion of the nuclear plant in Iran's southern port of Bushehr, the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies reported.

Shmatko said his company would start preparations in January for nuclear fuel deliveries to Bushehr, and begin actual shipments in March, six months ahead of the physical launch of the Bushehr nuclear reactor.

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Russia's Federal Nuclear Agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko has said that the
start-up of the Bushehr reactor would take place in September 2007, and that the plant would come online in November 2007.

Kiriyenko also visited Tehran on Monday for talks related to the plant's completion.

Russia and China, which have major commercial ties with Iran, have been
pushing publicly for dialogue instead of UN punishment of Iran over its
nuclear activities.

A draft UN Security Council resolution circulated last Friday by France and Britain drops all mention of Bushehr in an apparent hope of winning Russia's support. An earlier European draft that Russia opposed would exempt the Bushehr nuclear plant, but not the nuclear fuel needed for the reactor.

The new draft would still keep a range of sanctions and still would limit
technical assistance to Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and urge countries to prevent Iranian students from studying nuclear-related disciplines.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that the new draft was
based on Russian amendments.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, aimed solely at producing nuclear energy, but Israel, the United States and the Europeans believe Tehran's uranium enrichment activities are ultimately aimed at producing nuclear weapons.