Iran earmarks $1.4 billion for construction of nuclear plants

Iran said Monday it has earmarked $1.4 billion for construction of nuclear power plants amid international pressure to abandon its nuclear program, state television reported.

Word of the planned funding came as top members of the United Nations Security Council were meeting in Britain on Monday to consider additional sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a key nuclear process.

An Iranian parliament committee, reviewing next year's budget, approved the $1.4 billion appropriation for building new reactors, 10 percent of which will go for training staff, the TV report said.

The decision requires approval by the majority of 290-seat parliament members and a constitutional watchdog to be a law.

Iran has already said it plans to build as many as 20 nuclear reactors, part of a project to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear power within the next two decades.

But it could face delays in opening its first nuclear plant, a $1 billion project still under construction with Russian help at Bushehr. Russia said earlier this month that its uranium fuel deliveries for Bushehr could fall behind schedule because of Iran's delays in payment.

Iran denied it had failed to make payments and raised concerns that Moscow was buckling under international pressure and delaying the reactor's launch. Iran expects the Bushehr plant to begin generating electricity this year.

The TV report did not say if any of the new appropriation by parliament would go toward the Bushehr plant.

The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Iran denies, saying its nuclear program is intended only to generate electricity.

The UN has demanded Iran suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can either produce fuel for a reactor or the material needed to build a nuclear warhead.