Delayed Nuke Plant Bolsters Iran Resolve

The reactor building of Iran's nuclear power plant is seen, at Bushehr, Iran, 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, in this Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005, file photo. For Iranians, the fate of their first nuclear reactor is proof why they have to build their own nuclear technology despite U.N. efforts to rein in the program, as the facility is eight years behind schedule and is now, as of March 2007, held up by a bitter dispute with longtime ally Russia.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, file) (Vahid Salemi - AP)

BUSHEHR, Iran -- For Iranians across the political spectrum, delays in construction of the country's first nuclear reactor have strengthened their resolve to master their own nuclear technology and resist U.N. efforts to stop them.

The reactor, already eight years behind schedule, is snagged on what Iran calls a politically motivated business dispute with longtime ally Russia.

Russia announced this month that construction would be delayed at least two months because Iran had failed to make monthly payments since January. It said the delay could cause "irreversible" damage to the project.

Because of the delay, Russia also indefinitely put off the delivery of enriched uranium fuel it had promised to provide Iran in March.

Iran, which denied falling behind in payments, was furious, convinced Russia was pressuring the country to bend to the U.N. Security Council, which has placed sanctions against it for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iranian lawmakers are now pushing for the country to ensure it does not need to rely on anyone.

"The pattern of Russia's behavior has strengthened Iran's determination to obtain the full technology to build nuclear power plants and end its dependence," conservative lawmaker Kazem Jalali told the Associated Press on Saturday.

Rasoul Sediqi Bonabi, a nuclear scientist and independent lawmaker, added: "Russia has never been and will never be a reliable partner."

Due to have opened in 1999, the Bushehr reactor stands 95 percent complete, Iranian officials say. The facility, with its cream-colored reactor dome, overlooks the Persian Gulf and is heavily guarded, ringed with anti-aircraft guns and radar stations. Troops block roads leading to the site.

Construction began in 1974 with help from then-West Germany. Work was then interrupted during the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and brought hard-line clerics to power. Iraq also bombed the plant during its 1980-88 war with Iran.

When Iran tried to resume the project after the war, the Germans refused to help. Iran signed deals with Argentina, Spain and other countries, only to see them canceled under U.S. pressure.

So Iran turned to Russia, signing a $1 billion contract to build the 1,000-megawatt Bushehr plant in 1995. That contract envisaged the reactor coming on stream in July 1999.