Iran to fire up nuclear plant

A spokesman for Rosatom said that uranium fuel shipped by Russia will be loaded into Iran's Bushehr reactor in a ceremony next Saturday to mark the beginning of its physical start-up.

After that, he said, the plant will be officially considered a nuclear-energy facility. Russian officials said that UN sanctions against Iran would not affect the project.

The US called on Russia to delay the start until Iran proves it is not developing nuclear arms.

Russia signed a $1bn (641m) contract in 1995 to build the plant, but has dragged its feet over completing the project.

Moscow cited technical reasons for the delays, but analysts believe they used the deal to press Iran to be less defiant over its nuclear programme.