US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticised today Moscow's plans for the start-up of a Russian- built nuclear power reactor in Iran, according to dpa. Clinton, in Moscow for talks with the Russian leadership and for Friday's meeting of the Mideast Quartet, was reacting quickly to a disclosure made by earlier in the day about aims for a summer start- up of the plant in Bushehr. According to the Itar-Tass agence, after her talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Clinton said that until Tehran had proven the peaceful aims of its nuclear programme, then it was "premature" to push ahead with projects in Iran. "When Iran has reassured the world or has changed its behaviour due to international sanctions, then it can purse the peaceful and civilian use of nuclear energy," she said. Lavrov for his part said the success of the Bushehr facility was extremely important in pushing Tehran towards close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Earlier Thursday, during a visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a Russian nuclear plant at Volgodonsk, some 1,200 kilometres south of the capital, officials disclosed plans for the Russian-built plant in Bushehr to be put on stream in July. The completion of the Bushehr facility has been delayed many years amid differences between Moscow and Tehran. Iran alleges that the delays were due to political pressures, while Russia has insisted that the cause was due to technical problems.
