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We present Iranian Diplomacy’s interview with Hassan Beheshtipour, an expert on Central Asian affairs.

- A letter of understanding for the construction of two new atomic power plants was signed in the recent visit made by the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization to Russia. What is the objective behind Iran turning to Russia for the construction of atomic power plants?

- Iran needs the production of 20000 megawatts of atomic electricity, only 1000 megawatts of which are now produced in the Bushehr power plant. This is while Iran is the only country in the Middle East which produces atomic electricity. If the nuclear negotiations succeed, Iran will be able to cooperate with any country with regard to the construction of atomic power plants in order to provide its domestic needs. But until that time, the only country which has stated its readiness to build nuclear power plants is Russia. Mr. Salehi’s visit was along this line and he has signed the letter of understanding for the construction of two other power plants in Bushehr. Of course, this issue has not yet been finalized. Therefore, it must be considered that there was only one option. At the same time, the agreement must be written in a way so that the past problems regarding the Bushehr power plant and its delivery by the Russians would not be repeated. Russia delayed the delivery of the power plant several times in the past due to the delay in the payments. The Russian company always blamed Iran for this delay. But all of these were excuses because the Bushehr power plant was the first Russian atomic electrical project after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even the Soviet Union did not have the experience of building atomic power plants. Thus, we hope that necessary precautions would be considered in the new agreement so that Russia fulfills its commitments in the Bushehr-2 project’s production of nuclear electricity within the agreed framework of time.

- Will the agreement reached with Russia have impacts on the nuclear negotiations with the P5+1? Could Iran justify its action based on the Geneva Agreement which has stated that the volume of enrichment is determined based on domestic needs?

- It can be said that this issue could somehow impact the nuclear negotiations provided that the type of Bushehr -2 fuel is defined. It means that Russia has committed itself in the Bushehr-1 power plant that it will provide the fuel of this power plant until the end of 2021. Therefore, we must wait and see whether Russia is the provider of the fuel for Bushehr-2 or whether Iran is going to give the fuel to Russia for Russia to then transform it to fuel rods. This is related to the type of the agreement. It is also possible that the Russians may render the entire issue of providing fuel for the Bushehr-2 power plant to Iran.

- The issue of exchanging nuclear fuel with the Russian party has also been discussed. Previously, a US publication had claimed that Iran had reached an agreement with regard to the amount of enrichment and the exchange of fuel considering its reserves. Is the exchange of fuel on this basis?

- If the US publication means Iran’s reserves, then Mr. Amano, the IAEA General Director, has always determined its amount in his reports. The US has a plan to prevent Iran’s nuclear activities from reaching a military level based on which uranium reserves must reach an amount so that there is not enough time for production. Therefore, Iran would deliver a percentage of enrichment to Russia so that it would later use it in the Bushehr power plant. This is different from what Mr. Salehi has stated. The issue of fuel exchange has been proposed so that Iran would deliver its enriched uranium to Russia to be transformed into fuel rods. Even the Russians themselves deliver their fuel to France and France transforms it to the fuel which would be used in nuclear power plants; this does not mean that Russia is capable of performing this task, but rather that the issue is more related to economic benefits and bilateral cooperation. Nuclear power plants are different from each other. The activities of the Tehran reactor, which are related to pharmaceutical isotopes, are different from those of the Bushehr power plant. The US pursues the issue of breakout. They say that the level of uranium enrichment in Iran must be such so that it would not have enough time to build a nuclear bomb within a year. That is why they are sensitive about the level and type of centrifuges. The measure taken by Iran and Russia is only taken along the line of bilateral cooperation. This can be done with any other country. Iran can even export enriched uranium. The important thing is what it receives in exchange.