(CORR) Russian Nuclear Agency Chief Going to Iran on 23 February for Three-Four

(Correction, amending first sentence and addding departure date; reissue of item follows) Excerpt from report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 8 February: The head of Rosatom [Federal Agency for Atomic Energy], Sergey Kiriyenko, is setting off on a trip to Iran on 23 February. The leader of the Russian atomic sector intends to hold talks with Iranian colleagues in Tehran and to visit Bushehr to take a look at the construction of the nuclear power station.

“I will have a meeting with the co-chairman of the Russian- Iranian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation and in Bushehr it is essential to estimate the degree of the [nuclear power] station’s readiness,” Kiriyenko has told journalists today. His trip is planned for three to four days.

“Nothing is preventing us from completing construction at Bushehr. The world community doesn’t have any questions as regards this project,” Kiriyenko said. [Passage omitted]

Russian experts are convinced that commissioning the nuclear power plant in Bushehr “will not take Iran closer to the creation of nuclear weapons”. [Passage omitted]