US, Russia Pledge Further Nuclear Weapons Cuts (3/3)

In that regard, Deputy Foreign Minister Kislyak defended Moscow's cooperation with Iran on its nearly-completed Bushehr power plant on the Persian Gulf. He said Russia will control fuel for the Bushehr plant, and said if Iran wants a broader nuclear program it should be based on that arrangement:

"Bushehr is going to be continued. It's going to be built. It's fully compliant with all the requirements of the IAEA. It's fully under the safeguards agreements. And I would say that the arrangement around Bushehr is an example of what Iran would be well-advised to choose as a method and way of developing its nuclear energy."

Kislyak called the Bushehr plan a win-win proposition" class="hjdict" word="proposition" target=_blank>proposition for all those concerned. He also dismissed as overly ambitious an Iranian claim this week that the plant will be completed and fueled within two months.

Though it once supported the Russian take-back plan for the Bushehr plant's fuel supply, the Bush administration has more recently urged Russia to halt nuclear cooperation with Iran altogether.

Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but the United States and European allies believe it has a covert" class="hjdict" word="covert" target=_blank>covert weapons project.