The Latest from Iran (6 March): Catching Up with the Regime and Rafsanjani
Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 15:00
2000 GMT: A Right Nuclear Mess. Looks like Iran has got itself in a real tangle over its first nuclear plant at Bushehr.
Last week reports emerged that Iran was having to withdraw fuel rods from Bushehr, opened last autumn, because of unspecified technical problems.
Although there was some discussion of whether the difficulty was the Stuxnet computer worm, allegedly introduced by the "West" and/or Israel into software running the plant, the issue might have stopped there. But then Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday denied reports that any fuel has been removed, saying operations at the facility "are running their normal course."
And now the deputy head of Parliament's Energy Commission, Abdollah Kaabi, has given the nuclear tension another stir with accusations against Moscow, contradicting the Foreign Ministry line that all is well. Kaabi said Saturday, “If Russia continues to delay the inauguration of Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) will definitely table a motion to demand compensation from Moscow.”
Kaabi said the Russians had always been “unreliable partners in the course of history”, causing “unacceptable” delays in the project and imposing heavy costs on Iran.