Iran, Russia to finalize deal on building new nuclear plants

TEHRAN,June 24(MNA) – Iran and Russia agreed to finalize a deal to build two nuclear power plants in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr, a senior Iranian nuclear official said on Monday. “The final agreement has been made on the construction of two nuclear power plants and it awaits the signature of the two countries’ officials. We seek to finalize [it] on Monday and Tuesday in Tehran,” Behrouz Kamalvandi said. On Monday, senior Russian nuclear official Nikolai Spassky arrived in Tehran to hold talks with Iranian nuclear and foreign ministry officials. Spassky, the deputy CEO for International Relations at Russian state company Rosatom, was scheduled to meet with Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) director Ali Akbar Salehi, the organization’s spokesman Kamalvandi, and deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Abbas Araqchi. “It is possible that in addition to the two nuclear power plants, we will also discuss more power plants,” Kamalvandi added. Kamalvandi had earlier said that the completion and construction of the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant is an example of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in nuclear activities.