WASHINGTON, D.C., July 3 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian deputy foreign minister said Tuesday the nuclear power plant Russia is building for Iran at Bushehr will take several months to complete, dismissing an Iranian official's suggestion the facility could be commissioned in two months' time.
"It would be too ambitious, I think, to say that it [Bushehr] can be commissioned within two months," Sergei Kislyak said. "That is unachievable physically."
He said the Bushehr project will go ahead.
"Bushehr will continue to develop since it fully meets IAEA requirements," the Russian diplomat said.
The $1-billion project has been implemented under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog as the Islamic Republic has been suspected of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program. Tehran insisted it only wants nuclear energy.
The Islamic Republic is facing a new round of UN Security Council sanctions over its defiance of international demands to halt uranium enrichment, which could be used both in electricity generation and weapons production.
