Sunday, November 30, 2008

Iran proposes building nuclear power plants with Arab states

Iran proposes building nuclear power plants with Arab states (NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN - November 30, 2008 Iran on Sunday proposed building light-water nuclear power plants jointly with neighboring Arab countries. The proposal was put forward by Gholamreza Agazadeh, Iranian vice-president and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, who spoke at a conference on nuclear power plants, environment and sustainable development. "Iran is ready to provide very soon a comprehensive plan for the proposal if it were approved in generalities by the Persian Gulf littoral states," the Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Agazadeh as saying. Iran is under three sets of relatively mild UN Security Council sanctions over its controversial nuclear program, which it insists has purely civilian goals. Western powers led by the United States, along with Israel, accuse Tehran of attempting to develop nuclear weapons, something Iran has consistently denied. Iran is completing the construction of its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr in the south of the country with the assistance of Russian specialists. The $1bln project is subject to UN monitoring following Iran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program and Western suspicions that Tehran is seeking to build nuclear weapons. The Bushehr nuclear power plant is expected to be launched in the first half of 2009.

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