MOSCOW, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Russia is ready to evacuate its staff from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant if necessary, Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, was cited as saying on Thursday by the state news agency TASS.
President Vladimir Putin said last year that hundreds of Russians were working at the facility, Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant, which Moscow built for Iran.
More nuclear facilities are currently being built at the Bushehr site by Russia.
A U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June last year did not target Bushehr. Likhachev warned at the time that an attack on the site could trigger a catastrophe comparable to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
On Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to come to the table and make a deal renouncing nuclear weapons, or the next U.S. attack would be far worse.
Likhachev was quoted as saying: “We sincerely hope that the parties to the conflict will uphold their commitments regarding the inviolability of this territory (Bushehr).
“But, as they say, we are keeping our finger on the pulse and, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, we will be ready to carry out evacuation measures if necessary.”
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, and Russia says it supports Tehran’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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