Russia says to start up Iran nuclear plant this year

MOSCOW: Russia will switch on the reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant this year, the head of Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosatom said on Thursday.

"This year will be the year of the launch of Bushehr," Sergei Kiriyenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.  

Kiriyenko declined to answer questions on when exactly the plant would be launched and whether Russia would help Iran build other nuclear plants.

Iran handed over the Bushehr project, begun by German firm Siemens in the 1970s, to Russia in 1995. Moscow has frequently postponed the launch of Bushehr in recent years. 

Iran is at the center of an international dispute over its nuclear ambitions. Western powers suspect Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating nuclear energy for civilian purposes.