Ali Husseini did not identify the nuclear equipment held in Azerbaijan.
The spokesman said the nuclear shipment has been in Azerbaijan for three
weeks.
[On Monday, CIA director Michael Hayden said North Korea built a nuclear
plant in Syria that could have produced enough plutonium to assemble up to
two atomic weapons per year. Hayden said full production of the plant —
destroyed by Israel in September 2007 — would have been achieved within a
year of operation.]
Iran and Russia have agreed to accelerate the 1,000 megawatt Bushehr
reactor, scheduled to begin full operations in October 2008. But on April
21, Bushehr's prime contractor, Russia's state-owned Atomstroiexport, said
one or two trucks carrying equipment for Bushehr were stopped in Astara,
along the Azeri-Iranian border.
Atomstroiexport spokeswoman Irina Yesipova said the trucks contained
what she termed heat-isolating systems. Ms. Yesipova said she did not
envision additional delays to Bushehr.
Iran has also reported the construction of a second nuclear reactor.
Officials said the facility was being built along the Iranian border with
Iraq and would have a capacity of 360 megawatts.
"Now we need to think about the fuel for it," Iranian ambassador to
Russia, Gholamreza Ansari, said.
