Iran Sets Its Sights on More Reactors

Iran wants Russia to help it build more nuclear power plants in addition to the country’s controversial first reactor now nearing completion, Iranian atomic energy chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said here Wednesday.

“We have plans for building, besides the Bushehr nuclear power plant, several others having a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts, and we are inviting Russia to take this opportunity,” Aghazadeh said in an interview with the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.

Although Iran’s hopes to build additional power plants are not new, the positive tone of Aghazadeh’s comments was significant because it implies that Russia might agree to cooperate despite fierce objections from Washington, which fears that Tehran is engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

Working under an $800-million contract, Russia has helped Iran build a 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor, which is nearly completed, in the western port of Bushehr. Iran may also seek to build a second reactor at that site.

Iran has come under mounting international pressure in recent weeks -- not just from Washington but also from the European Union and the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency -- to accept tougher inspections of its nuclear sites.

Iran has expressed willingness in principle to sign additional safeguard protocols, but only if other countries commit themselves to assisting it with civilian nuclear technology.

The fear in Washington and some other capitals is that Iran’s nuclear power program in combination with secret weapons research could give the Islamic nation the knowledge and materials to build nuclear bombs.

A senior Bush administration official said in Moscow this year that one of Washington’s top priorities is to be sure that Russia doesn’t agree to help build any additional power plants besides the Bushehr reactor. He implied that stopping the Bushehr project is impossible, but that Washington did not expect Moscow to agree to any new deals.

Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, speaking Wednesday at a news conference, defended his country’s nuclear dealings with Iran.

“Many criticize us, saying that Russia is supplying nuclear military know-how to Iran, and demand on these grounds that the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant be stopped,” he said. “I would like to say officially that there is no cooperation between Russia and Iran other than that on the peaceful utilization of nuclear technology. We call this kind of politics unfair competition, when we are accused of something and are forced out of Iran.”

In recent months, Moscow has been pressing Iran to sign additional safeguard agreements with the IAEA, saying it would benefit the country by proving that Tehran has purely peaceful intent in its nuclear program. That pressure has been seen as helpful by Washington.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has also said his nation opposes development of nuclear weapons by Iran.

President Bush told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that in a 15-minute telephone conversation with Putin that was focused largely on Iran and North Korea, “I thanked him for keeping the pressure on the Iranian government to dismantle any notions they might have of building a nuclear weapon.”

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, is due to visit Iran next week to discuss concerns about Tehran’s nuclear program and the issue of additional safeguards.

A stricter safeguards agreement between Iran and the IAEA, however, could pave the way for greater Russian-Iranian cooperation.

Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir B. Rushailo, when he received Aghazadeh earlier this week, declared that as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iran “has the right to receive international assistance in developing its nuclear power industry.”

Article IV of the treaty states that signatories “undertake to facilitate” the exchange of equipment and scientific information “for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”

“Parties to the treaty in a position to do so shall also cooperate in contributing ... to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of nonnuclear-weapon states party to the treaty,” it continues.

Iran contends that Washington is seeking to ignore this part of the treaty.

Article I of the treaty says that signatories possessing nuclear weapons will not assist “nonnuclear-weapon states” to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear arms.

“In theory, Articles I and IV do not contradict each other,” said Ivan Safranchuk, director of the Moscow branch of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information. “But in practice everything looks totally messed up and confused. It is extremely difficult to tell the difference. Where is that fine line that separates proliferation from development of civilian nuclear energy? How is this to be judged?”

Safranchuk said he believes Russia’s goal is “to make any misuse impossible” instead of ending nuclear cooperation with Iran.

He also said the invitation from Aghazadeh, who heads Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, for Russian deal-making does not mean Moscow will agree to any new contracts.

There is probably a “tacit understanding” that “Washington shuts its eyes as Moscow finishes the Bushehr nuclear power plant project in return for Moscow’s renunciation of all other projects that could follow,” he said.

Rushailo’s comments about Iran’s right to acquire nuclear technology should be seen primarily as an effort to defend the Bushehr project, according to Safranchuk.

“No question, the Kremlin does have concerns about Iran and its nuclear program,” Safranchuk said.

“But these concerns cannot and should not be voiced out loud, in a straightforward manner, for it would immediately leave Bushehr open to political attacks.”

Talk of possible future nuclear deals with Iran “is a psychological trick,” Safranchuk added. “Russian authorities believe that if they start talking about future contracts, everybody will take Bushehr for granted.”

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Alexei V. Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.