Tehran-Moscow nuclear deal not contradicts Geneva agreement
By Sara Rajabova
Iran says its agreement with Russia in nuclear field does not violate the Geneva nuclear agreement.
“Agreement between Iran and Russia does not violate the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany) and it cannot protest against the deal,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, IRNA news agency reported.
Iran and Russia signed an agreement in last November to build two new reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, located in the south of the country.
“We have always made it clear that, Iran receives support from other countries for the construction of our nuclear facilities,” Kamalvandi said, adding that Russia has good experiences on the issue and Iran signed the deal due to its need of many reactors.
Kamalvandi emphasized that Iran will not step back from its nuclear rights, in particular the uranium enrichment.
Iran and the P5+1 group agreed to extend nuclear talks until July 1, 2015 after failing to meet the 24 November deadline to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
The sides also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed last November for providing Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
Russia’s State Nuclear Corporation JSC NIAEP - JSC Atomstroyexport (ASE) and Iran’s Nuclear Power Production and Development Company signed the contract on November 11 in Moscow to construct two new power units at Bushehr nuclear power plant in accordance with Russian technology.
The document envisages the construction of two power units at Bushehr nuclear power plant with the possibility of increasing the number of power units to four.
The 1000-MW Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear electricity plant which launched by Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy in early 2009 experimentally, but connected to the national power grid in 2011.
Construction of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr was started in 1974 by the German Kraftwerk Union AG (Siemens / KWU) concern but ceased during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran officially took over the first unit of the plant from Russia for two years in September 2013, the final acceptance and submission for industrial operation is scheduled for 2015.