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Russia, Iran to begin joint construction of nuclear plants in Iran within weeks — media

Russia and Iran signed a package of agreements of construction of eight nuclear units in Iran in early November 2014

MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Russia and Iran plan to launch joint construction of nuclear power plants in Iran within weeks, the Fars News Agency said on Sunday, citing Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi.

"The construction work will begin in coming weeks and we are in talks with the Russians to start the job as soon as possible after the New Year holidays," Kamalvandi said.

In early December 2015, Russia and Iran had a meeting to discuss prospects of bilateral cooperation in the nuclear energy sector. Following the meeting, Russia’s Atomstroiexport, the construction contractor, told TASS it was interested in building new nuclear units under the Russian design in Iran.

Earlier, Rosatom CEO, Sergey Kiriyenko, said the construction of new power units in Iran would be launched in the autumn of 2015.

Russia and Iran signed a package of agreements of construction of eight nuclear units in Iran in early November 2014. The package included a contract on the Bushehr nuclear plant’s second phase, which provided for the construction of two nuclear units with possible expansion to four.

The sides also plan to build four more units at other sites, which have not yet been chosen.

The construction of the second and third units will be funded by Iran.