Russia to Continue Helping Iran with Its Peaceful Nuclear Projects: Putin

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 23, 2003

Russia to Continue Helping Iran with Its Peaceful Nuclear Projects: Putin

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday his country would not be dissuaded from helping Iran with its peaceful nuclear projects by the United States who accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons.

"We shall oppose the use of the nuclear nonproliferation issue as a means of squeezing Russian companies out of the Iranian market," Putin said in an interview with BBC broadcast on Sunday.

He added that Iranian President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami had told him that Tehran was ready to join all nuclear nonproliferation agreements and place all its nuclear programs under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, an allegation Iran has strongly denied.

Putin, who will arrive in Britain on Tuesday for a four-day state visit, also told BBC that Russian firms should be given a fair chance to get energy contracts in Iraq's rebuilding, stressing that some of the multi-million-US dollar contracts Russian oil companies signed with Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule must be honored.

"As for major investment projects (in Iraq), our position is based on the primacy of law. The Iraqi side must fulfill its obligations in compliance with the law and of course we will be insisting that some of those projects do go ahead," Putin said.

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