Russia and Iran this week discussed boosting their cooperation in nuclear energy, including in building small nuclear reactors (SMRs) in the Islamic Republic, Iranian media report.
Mohammad Eslami, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), discussed nuclear energy cooperation in Tehran with Nikolai Spassky, Deputy CEO for International Relations at Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company.
Spassky was returning a visit by Eslami to Moscow last month, during which Iran and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in construction of small nuclear power plants in Iran.
The two countries sanctioned by the West have also signed a MoU on collaboration on the Iran–Hormoz Nuclear Power Plant Project, which envisages the construction of four 1,250-megawatt reactors.
Earlier this year, Iran and Russia vowed to enhance their energy cooperation as Russian companies signed a deal to develop oilfields in Iran and the countries discuss the creation of a natural gas hub in the Islamic Republic.
Iran and Russia signed in January a so-called Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which included – among various other commitments – a pledge to expand cooperation in the energy sector, including in energy supply and swap operations.
Russia and Iran have been deepening their cooperation, including in the energy sector, for years, and especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine cut off a lot of Moscow’s previous oil and gas customers.
The boosting of nuclear energy cooperation with Russia comes as Iran remains defiant as the UN sanctions snapped back in place at the end of September.
Ahead of the return of the UN sanctions adding to U.S. sanctions, Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said, referring to Iran’s oil exports to China, “They will continue, we have no problem.”
“In the last years, we have faced such severe restrictions from the unjust and unilateral U.S. sanctions that, in practice, [U.N. sanctions] won’t add much to this situation,” the Iranian minister said, as carried by Reuters.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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