Russia Says Iran Nuclear Plant To Start By August

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant

Russia's top atomic energy official says Iran's first nuclear plant, which Russia is building in Bushehr, will go on line in August.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's federal atomic energy agency, says the plant will go on line regardless of any new sanctions against Iran.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, have broadly agreed a new sanctions text aimed at punishing Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which the West fears is aimed at making an atomic bomb.

Construction on the Bushehr plant began in the mid-1990s but the launch has been delayed several times.

compiled from agency reports