14/08/2010 12:14
US doesn’t regard Bushehr as a proliferation risk
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant which is to be started up and put into operation on August 21 isn’t considered by the US State Department as a risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons, Russian media reported quoting State Department spokesman Mark Toner as saying.
"Russia's support for Bushehr underscores that Iran does not need an indigenous enrichment capability if its intentions are purely peaceful," Mark Toner said in a statement in Washington.
However, Mark Toner emphasized that broader concerns remained about the direction of Iran's nuclear program. He also added that a deal between Russia and Iran mirrored a broader fuel swap proposal that Western powers have offered Iran in hopes of halting its domestic enrichment program.