Bishkek: The CEO of Russia's state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed nuclear cooperation during their recent meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek. The discussions included bilateral issues related to the two countries' cooperation in the nuclear field.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Alexey Likhachev, the CEO of Rosatom, revealed details of the meeting on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. This forum, held annually, aims to attract foreign investment into the Russian Far East. During the SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin and Pezeshkian reviewed the status of the Bushehr nuclear power plant amidst the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Likhachev assured that the situation at the Bushehr plant remained calm. He mentioned that Rosatom specialists were gearing up for planned maintenance of Unit 1, scheduled for mid-September. This maintenance involves replacing a portion of the fuel assemblies, with the necessary nuclear fuel already delivered to the site.

The CEO of Rosatom also highlighted that Tehran and Moscow had previously signed agreements concerning the construction of large nuclear power plants. Iranian officials have shown interest in building smaller plants during past negotiations.

Rosatom operates the Bushehr plant alongside Iranian specialists and is currently constructing two additional units at the site. Earlier this year, Rosatom evacuated hundreds of Russian personnel following the onset of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran on February 28. Last year, Likhachev confirmed plans to build two additional nuclear power plant units, each with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, next to the first unit at Bushehr, with construction progressing.