International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 1 Sep 2008

Tehran and Moscow are expected to hold meetings this week to arrange the opening of the $800-million, 1,000 megawatt Bushehr nuclear reactor that Russia has helped build on Iran’s coast under a 1995 contract.

The building project was supposed to be finished by the end of 2006 but was delayed several times over payment conflicts. Although it is too soon to declare a finish date, Russia’s ambassador to Iran has vowed that Bushehr will be in operation by early 2009. Iran received its eighth and last nuclear fuel supply from Russia in January.

The United States is also concerned that Russia will sell Iran its cutting-edge S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, which will greatly enhance Iran's ability to defend its nuclear facilities from Western air attacks.

The West is concerned that the Islamic regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons, while Iran’s Arab neighbors in the Gulf region are worried the Bushehr reactor gives Iran not only atomic capabilities but will also pose a serious health and environmental hazard.

When the Bushehr reactor is finished on Iran’s coast, it will be closer to Bahrain than Tehran. There are also mounting fears that a military attack in the Middle East would also interrupt oil exports, since Iran has warned that any foreign strike on its nuclear facilities would prompt them to disrupt shipping in the Persian Gulf.

Iran also recently declared its intent to construct a second nuclear reactor in Darkhoin, the the southwestern Khuzestan province.

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