May 30, 2003	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 27,1424

MOSCOW, May 29: Russia ignored U.S. objections on Thursday and vowed to keep building a nuclear power plant in Iran, saying only a special U.N. meeting could assess whether Tehran was violating promises not to use it to produce weapons.

Days before Russia hosts summit talks with U.S. President George Bush, the station at Bushehr remained a serious irritant as President Vladimir Putin tries to soothe differences over his refusal to back the war to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow would defer to the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog in determining whether Iran was keeping promises to confine its nuclear programme to peaceful purposes.

“We do note that unofficial information has recently appeared about military applications of Iran’s nuclear programme,” spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.

“Russia considers that only the International Atomic Energy Agency, as a competent international body, can evaluate Iran’s non-proliferation commitments.”

The IAEA is due to discuss Iran next month and could rule it in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed by Tehran in 1970.

Yakovenko said the IAEA had so far found no violations by Iran of its non-proliferation obligations and Moscow expected the June meeting to lift all remaining concerns.

Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, meanwhile, said U.S. nuclear experts had never suggested Moscow’s cooperation with Tehran ran counter to existing international agreements.

“The U.S. side understands that our work is absolutely legal,” Rumyantsev, whose ministry is building the Bushehr reactor, told Ekho Moskvy radio.

“But they say: You are boosting their scientific and technological potential and that could indirectly help them build nuclear weapons. My answer is: ‘You must understand that this is not serious.’”

US PRESSURE: In the runup to weekend summit talks in St Petersburg between Putin and Bush, U.S. officials have intensified pressure on Iran, saying it has failed to take action against extremists. Washington has long accused Iran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons and urged Moscow to halt nuclear cooperation with it.

Iran denies the project has military applications.

A Russian deputy foreign minister this week appeared to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards U.S. appeals, telling Iran’s ambassador of “concern over serious, outstanding issues” with its nuclear programme.

But within 24 hours, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov again threw Russia’s weight behind the $800 million Bushehr plant. He said there could be no objections to the project, from the United States or any other country.

U.S. officials, asking why oil-rich Iran needs a nuclear power station, have said the issue will be on the agenda in St Petersburg, Putin’s home town celebrating its 300th anniversary.

The daily Izvestia said the dispute had the potential to further upset the delicate alliance with the United States, formed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. targets.

“On the eve of the St Petersburg meeting between presidents Bush and Putin, Washington is defining its position,” the daily said in a front-page article.

“Moscow’s nuclear cooperation with Tehran is today, after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the biggest thorn in the side of U.S.-Russian relations. The Bush administration is sending the Kremlin a clear signal.”—Reuters