More On Iran vs. Russia
Iran deplores Russia's decision not to ship nuclear fuel on time
BUSHEHR, Iran (AP) - Iran's top nuclear negotiator on Tuesday deplored Russia's decision not to ship nuclear fuel to Iran as agreed, a move that delays the start of Iran's first nuclear power plant.
"This (Russian decision) shows that there is no such thing as a guarantee to deliver nuclear fuel," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ali Larijani as saying Tuesday.
The Russian move, announced Monday, means that Iran's first nuclear reactor will not come on stream in September, as scheduled. This is a major political blow to Iran which expected the commissioned power plant to boost its position in long-running negotiations with the United Nations over its nuclear program.
"Russians are extortionists," the Iranian legislator Rasoul Sediqi Bonabi said Tuesday. "Moscow has never been a reliable partner and will never be so in the future."
Russia's federal nuclear agency, Rosatom, said Monday it was postponing the March shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran because the country had failed to pay for work on the Russian-built reactor outside this southern Iranian city.
Iran rejected the Russian claim, saying it has fulfilled all its financial obligations.
This is getting good. I can't wait for the next installment of this drama.
