Iran ready for nuclear talks with world powers
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Xinhua, September 12, 2011
Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Sunday that Iran is ready to hold nuclear talks with the world's major powers, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
As Iran has already mentioned it is ready for talks with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany (G5+1) over the common interests, Salehi was quoted as saying.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of the Iran-Russia joint economic commission on Sunday in Tehran.
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko who arrived in Tehran on Sunday headed the Russian side at the economic meeting on Sunday.
Shmatko, to be joined by other Russian officials, will travel to Bushehr in southern Iran on Sept. 12 to attend the official inauguration of Iran's first nuclear power plant.
Iran will hold a ceremony on Monday in the Bushehr nuclear power plant to formally connect the power plant to the national grid, Salehi said on Sunday, adding that power plant at this stage will produce 350-400 magwatts of electricity, namely 35-40 percent of its capacity.
"We hope the capacity of Bushehr nuclear power plant to reach 900-1000 megawatts in the following 2 to 3 months," he was quote as saying.
Salehi said that after it was connected to the national grid on Monday, the power plant will be disconnected later in order for some tests to be carried out. The tests will take some weeks and again the power plant will be given power to reach 100 percent of its capacity, he said.
The Bushehr nuclear power plant will work under the supervision of the Russians for one year and after that it will be conducted by Iranians, said the Iranian foreign minister.
The construction of the plant was halted when the United States imposed an embargo of hi-tech supplies on Iran after the 1979 revolution.
Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998, but the completion of the plant's construction has been postponed several times due to technical and financial challenges and pressure from the United States.
