Russia: nuclear deal with Iran does not mean immediate fuel delivery

    TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran and Russia on Sunday signed a key nuclear fuel agreement which would help Iran's Busher power plant come on stream, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    IRNA said that the deal was inked by Russia's nuc lear chief Alexander Rumyantsev and his Iranian counterpart Gholamreza Aghazadeh at the Busher plant in southern Iran after holding the second round of talks there Sunday morning.

    The two sides discussed the progress made in the first unit of the Busher Power Plant and the time of its inauguration, the report said.

    Mohammad Saeidi, a deputy to Aghazadeh, was quoted as saying that Iran did not accept the time proposed by the Russian side and the two sides would try to reach an agreement on time schedule.

    Saeidi referred to Russia's proposal that the opening of the plant be delayed until June 2006.

    "The two sides expressed various ideas on fuel of the power plant and time for its delivery, holding serious talks last night to bring the two countries' views close," Saeidi said.

    He expressed hope that Iran and Russia will fix a time for the inauguration of the power plant's first unit and sign documents of the main protocol, financial issues and time of fuel delivery.

    The agreement signed on Sunday obliges Iran to return spent fuel of the Busher power plant to Russia, which was insisted by Moscow to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons with the spent fuel andremained a key disagreement hindering the Busher project to go on.

    Iran at first refused the return, and then softened its stance but asked Russia to pay for it, holding that it was a baseless demand and not referred to in the initial contract between the two sides.

    Rumyantsev arrived in Tehran on Friday, scheduled to sign the landmark agreement on Saturday after talks with Aghazadeh.

    However, the eye-catching signing was delayed by the prolonged discussion.

    Busher plant, Iran's first nuclear power plant, is being built now with Russia's aid in a Persian Gulf port city in the southern province of Busher.

    The United States, accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, has pressured Moscow to abandon the project with the accusation that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons. Enditem