MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. The shutdown of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran is impossible, Tehran continues to cooperate with Moscow on the construction of a second and third power units of the plant, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.

"No, there is no way. That’s impossible, cooperation on Bushehr [Nuclear Power Plant] will continue, namely, construction work on the second and third units. They are at various stages, but they are not going to stop. We have no grounds to change anything here," he said, answering a question on the possible suspension of the power plant’s work.

Ryabkov described media reports of a possible suspension of the plant’s operations as speculation.

Russia’s state nuclear power corporation Rosatom is implementing the second stage of the construction of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (the second and third power units) with a total capacity of 2,100 MW. On November 10, 2019, work began on pouring concrete within the framework of building the second power unit.

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran was built by Russia. The plans agreed by Moscow and Tehran envisage the construction of the second and third power units on the territory of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

In 1995, Russia’s Zarubezhatomenergostroi (currently Atomstroyexport) signed a contract with Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization on completing the construction and upgrading the first unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. In September 2011, the Bushehr first power unit was connected to the power grid and its official handover to Iran took place in September 2013.