SOCHI, Russia, Aug 18, (Agencies): Russia on Wednesday defended the nuclear power plant it is building for Iran in the southern city of Bushehr, days ahead of a ceremony to mark the formal launch of the controversial facility.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the plant as an “anchor” that would keep Iran firmly fixed to peaceful use of nuclear power.
“It is a most important anchor which keeps Iran within the regime of non-proliferation,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a regional summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
“It is fully protected from any proliferation risks whatsoever. This idea is shared by all the leaders of Western countries,” he added.

The charging of the first nuclear fuel at the plant Saturday is to be marked at a ceremony in Bushehr including the head of Russia’s nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko.
Russia has been building the plant in since the mid-90s but the project has been marred by a series of delays and the issue is hugely delicate amid the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Russian officials have emphasised that it would still take some time for the 1,000 MW capacity power plant to start significant work, with the facility operating at minimal power of one percent after 3-4 months.
Western countries accuse oil-rich Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon under the guise of its civilian nuclear programme. But Tehran insists the drive is entirely peaceful and it needs nuclear energy for a rapidly expanding population whose fossil fuels will eventually run out.
Iran has taken its case against the United States to the United Nations and is strongly condemning the top US military chief for saying military action remains a possibility if the country develops nuclear weapons.

Iran’s acting UN ambassador Eshagh Alehabib reiterated that Iran will respond to any attack.
He claimed in letters to the secretary-general and presidents of the Security Council and General Assembly circulated Wednesday that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, “threatened” to use military action under the “totally false” pretense that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Mullen said recently the US military has a plan to attack Iran although he thinks a military strike is probably a bad idea.
Iran contends its nuclear program is aimed solely at producing nuclear energy.

Sanctions
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that any talks with arch-foe the United States would occur only if Washington drops “sanctions and threats” against Tehran.
“The respected president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and others have said that we are ready for negotiations. It is right. But not with America,” Khamenei told a gathering of senior Iranian officials, including Ahmadinejad, in a speech broadcast on state television.
“The reason is that America does not enter the field honestly as a normal negotiator. They should drop the face of a superpower, they should drop threats, they should drop sanctions and they should not set a goal for negotiations. Then we are ready.”

The United States, with whom Iran has had no diplomatic ties for more than three decades, led the world powers on June 9 in imposing new UN sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Western and European nations have approached a dual-track policy of imposing sanctions and calling for talks with Iran in order to make Tehran come to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear programme.

They suspect the programme masks a weapons drive, a charge strongly denied by Iran.
Khamenei, the all-powerful leader who has the final say on national issues, said that Iran has always been rejecting US offers for talks “because negotiations under threat are not negotiations.”
“On one hand they threaten us and impose sanctions and show an iron hand and on the other hand, they want us at the negotiating table. We do not consider this as negotiations,” the country’s spiritual guide said.

“Experience has shown that when they cannot answer logic, they bully... we will not budge under pressures and we will respond to these pressures in our own way.”
Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad had urged the United States to join talks on a nuclear fuel swap deal for Iran.
He also offered to hold talks with US President Barack Obama on “global problems” at the UN General Assembly in September, although Washington rebuffed his proposal.