Russia and Iran have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaboratively construct small nuclear power plants throughout Iran, as announced by the Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom on Wednesday. The agreement was formalized in Moscow by Rosatom’s Director General Alexei Likhachev and Mohammad Eslami, who is the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran and serves as the country’s vice president. This initiative represents a crucial advancement in Iran’s long-term objective of increasing its nuclear energy capacity to 20 gigawatts by the year 2040. Currently, Iran operates a single nuclear power plant located in the southern city of Bushehr, which was also constructed by Russia, and has a capacity of approximately 1 gigawatt (GW). The nation frequently faces electricity shortages during peak demand periods. In an interview with Iranian state media earlier this week, Eslami indicated that the new initiative aims to establish eight small-scale nuclear power plants. Although he did not specify a timeline, he mentioned that these facilities would assist Iran in decreasing its dependence on fossil fuels and in addressing power shortages. In recent years, Russia and Iran have fostered strong relations. Moscow has openly supported Tehran in the face of Western pressures and has condemned both US and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. These strikes were reportedly intended to limit Iran’s purported aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim that Iran refutes. This development follows reports that Iran is in the process of reconstructing several missile production sites that were targeted by Israeli strikes during their 12-day conflict in June.
