MOSCOW: Iran and Russia will sign agreements this week to build new nuclear power units in Iran, Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said on Monday as he arrived in Moscow for talks, according to reports from Iranian state-run media and Russian state news agency RIA.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation Chief Mohammad Eslami, who’s also vice president, told Iranian state media that bilateral agreements would be signed during the visit, including a plan to construct eight nuclear power plants as Tehran seeks to reach 20GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2040.

Contract negotiations have taken place and with the signing of the agreement this week, we will enter the operational steps, Mr Eslami said.

The announcement comes at a tense moment with the West as they accuse Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies having any such intention and Russia says it supports Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.

On Friday, the 15-member UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran. Britain, France and Germany have offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months if Iran restores access for UN nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engages in talks with the US.

The council also voted to reimpose UN sanctions that had been frozen, after three European governments activated the “snapback” mechanism in a decade-old nuclear agreement accusing Iran of non-compliance.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2025