Musaviyan said the issue had been raised during his Moscow talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He said agreement had been reached in principle on Putin's visit to Tehran in the near future. "Naturally, both Moscow and Tehran are prepared for this visit," Musaviyan said. "But serious preconditions must be created for this and agreements that could fundamentally change relations between our countries need to be drafted."
Washington's negative position has hindered bilateral relations. The United States is categorically opposed to Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation. A U.S. diplomat who preferred to remain anonymous said Washington did not trust Tehran and was surprised at Moscow's shortsightedness.
Despite media reports about Russian nuclear-fuel deliveries to Bushehr being delayed, Musaviyan's visit only focused on politics. He was not even scheduled to nuclear energy chief Alexander Rumyantsev. Nuclear Energy Agency officials said yesterday that fuel deliveries would not be delayed, that they would arrive six months before the power station is commissioned and so there was nothing to discuss.
Tehran has economic levers on Moscow. "Russia is now our main partner in the field of nuclear technologies," said Musaviyan. "So a peaceful resolution of the crisis around Iran's nuclear program will help expand Iranian-Russian cooperation in this sphere." Tehran has repeatedly voiced its plans to build seven new NPPs, each of which could bring in $1 billion to the Russian treasury. Musaviyan also said Tehran had already placed a contract for a communications satellite in Russia, while the two countries have also coordinated the purchase of Russian Tupolev Tu-204 planes. And, finally, Iran wants to define the share of Russian companies in major oil and gas projects on its territory.
