IRAN ENTITLED TO PEACEFUL NUCLEAR ENERGY: RUSSIA

Russia’s nuclear chief on August 19 said the planned start-up of Iran’s first nuclear power plant will demonstrate that Iran is entitled to peaceful use of nuclear energy under international supervision. Sergei Kiriyenko said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that the uranium fuel will be loaded into the reactor in Iran’s southern port of Bushehr. “That marks the beginning of the physical start-up of the plant and turns it from a site under construction to a functioning facility,” he said in televised remarks. Iranian officials have said it could take about a month before the plant starts providing electricity to the Iranian cities. Kiriyenko told Putin that the start-up is a “landmark event” that will show that Russia respects its international obligations.