Iran nuclear chief: Construction of 8 nuclear power plants by Russia on agenda

Iran’s nuclear chief says the construction of eight nuclear power plants in the southern Iranian provinces of Bushehr and Hormozgan under a long-standing agreement with Russia is on the agenda.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where he outlined the details of the power plant construction agreement between Iran and Russia.

“Since the 1980s, the agreement between the governments of Iran and Russia has included the construction of eight large-scale power plants. Four of these power plants with a capacity of 5,000 megawatts have been planned for Bushehr,” he said.

Eslami confirmed that a second cluster of four units will be constructed in Hormozgan Province.

A memorandum of understanding described as a “pre-contract” has already been signed, accelerating the incorporation of the project into an executable implementation plan, he explained.

Eslami added that the second part of the agreement focuses on developing small-scale modular reactors (SMRs), which were not part of the original contract.

An initial understanding has already been signed in Russia, and the main contract is expected to be finalized in the coming days, he noted. 

Iran, Russia sign MoU on construction of small nuclear plants

Russia’s state-owned company Rosatom says Moscow and Tehran have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the construction of small nuclear power plants in Iran.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Iran’s nuclear chief clarified that the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in the country is now severely restricted and operates strictly under the framework of a bill passed by Parliament.

“Our criterion for working with the International Atomic Energy Agency is the new law of the parliament,” he said in response to questions about the IAEA inspectors’ access.

On June 25, the Iranian Parliament unanimously passed legislation requiring the government to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA.

It came a day after Iran, through its successful retaliatory operations, managed to impose a halt to Israeli-US aggression that also targeted three of the country’s nuclear sites in a clear violation of international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Eslami explained that the new law sets two conditions: the IAEA must condemn attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and provide a formal guarantee to protect information related to Iran’s nuclear industry.

“Up to this point, the IAEA has not fulfilled its legal duty,” he said, adding that as long as “these measures are not taken, the parliament’s law cannot be implemented.”

Eslami highlighted that the presence of inspectors in Iran is not determined by the Agency’s own plans, emphasizing that only two pre-approved inspections—at the Bushehr nuclear facility and the Tehran research reactor—have been authorized, during which inspectors “arrived, conducted their inspections, and then left the country.

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