Iran Nuclear Plant Launch Unrelated To Sanctions: Russia

[Purveyor]

(AFP) – 6 hours ago

MOSCOW — Iran's launch of a Russian-built nuclear power plant will go ahead and is in no way linked to possible new sanctions over its alleged weapons programme, Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday.

"It would be wrong to make any links between the construction and the launch of the plant and the growing need to take new measures towards Tehran," ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

In Moscow last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that going forward with the inauguration of the nuclear plant that Russia has helped build at Bushehr would send Tehran the wrong message.

But Nesterenko denied that the United States had voiced any concern over Bushehr in bilateral talks.

"I would like to put an stop to this once and for all," he said in response to a reporter's question.

"Everything is being done under IAEA regulations," he said, referring to the UN's nuclear watchdog agency.

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