Russia will start building two nuclear reactors in Iran next week, the Iranian atomic energy agency spokesman said Tuesday.
The construction comes as Tehran seeks to reduce its reliance on oil and gas, but also roughly six months after a historic deal between Iran and world powers sought to end Tehran’s nuclear program.
Work on the two facilities “will commence next week,” atomic energy agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said, according to the state television’s website.
Last year, Tehran and Moscow signed a contract to build the two reactors at the existing Russian-built Bushehr power plant in southern Iran. If the series of contracts signed between the two countries goes as planned, there will eventually be nine Russian-built reactors in Iran.
Iran also plans to build 20 more nuclear plants in the future.
Russia backed Iran during the two years of nuclear negotiations. The two countries have also recently allied to back Syrian President Bashar Assad against opposition groups, though Russia claims to be helping target the Islamic State terror group.
(h/t AFP)
