Iran sees talks ending Russian atomic plant row

By Hossein Jasseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it could negotiate a solution to its dispute with Russia about building the Islamic Republic's first nuclear power plant, and Moscow promised to keep the project alive despite scarce financing.

Iranian government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham also said the Foreign Ministry was seeking a U.S. visa so that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could address the U.N. Security Council on Tehran's nuclear plans but that the trip had not been finalized.

Iran is embroiled in a row over its nuclear program, which the West says conceals a plan to produce nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies. The world's fourth largest oil exporter insists it wants only to generate electricity.

Russia's work on the 1,000 MW nuclear plant at Bushehr on the Gulf has caused friction with the United States. The Russian firm building the plant said on Monday the September launch date would be missed because of payment delays, which Iran denies.

"We are not pessimistic and we believe with negotiations this issue can be solved. It is better that this project carries on within the framework of the contract," Elham told a weekly news conference.

The Russian firm, Atomstroiexport, also said nuclear fuel would not be delivered as planned this month because of the row.

Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Russia's failure to send the fuel on time showed there were no "proper guarantees" for supplies, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

Tehran has said it needs to make its own fuel, despite Western opposition, to ensure supplies.

An Iranian nuclear official complained about repeated Bushehr project delays and reaffirmed Iran's position that payments were up to date, Iran's ISNA news agency reported.

"Construction works (at Bushehr) are not being interrupted," said Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's state atomic agency Rosatom. "But it's another issue that construction has been substantially slowed down by a lack of funds."

"Under the circumstances, we will do whatever can still be done within the project's framework, given a lack of funds."

Russia has defied Western concerns by supplying arms to Iran, helping build the Bushehr plant and watering down sanctions against Tehran at the United Nations, but is now signaling its patience with Iran's leadership is wearing thin.

ILLOGICAL, UNWISE DECISIONS

The five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia -- plus Germany are discussing new sanctions on Iran for missing a February 21 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, the process that can make atomic fuel or material for warheads.

On December 23, the council imposed trade sanctions on sensitive nuclear materials and technology and froze assets of key Iranian individuals, groups and businesses.