Azernews.Az

(RIA Novosti, September 19) – Iranian-Russian energy relations should be cooperative, not competitive, Iran's Supreme National Council head said on Monday.

"One of the main issues of Iranian-Russian bilateral relations is the energy potential," Saeed Jalili said at a press conference at Moscow State University of International Relations.

"The approach should be cooperative rather than competitive," he continued. "If Russia and Iran wanted to compete with each other, other countries would only benefit from that."

Russia signed a contract with Iran in February 1995 to complete the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which German companies began the construction of in 1975.

The plant was launched on September 12.

Bushehr will initially work at a 40% capacity under the supervision of Russian experts. Under a bilateral agreement, approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Russia will operate the plant, supply its fuel and take away all the spent fuel for the next two or three years, but will eventually hand over full control to Iran.

Iran is currently under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, as the West suspects Tehran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, which Iran strongly denies, insisting it needs atomic energy solely for civilian purposes.