Russia Delivers First Shipment of Nuclear Fuel to Iran bush approves the deal

[ASHISH]

What are they doing

MOSCOW, Dec. 17 -- Russia announced Monday that it has delivered an initial shipment of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, a step that officials in Moscow and Washington said removes any need for Tehran to pursue a widely opposed uranium enrichment program.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had received written assurances from the government in Tehran that the 82 tons of fuel would be used only at the Bushehr plant, where construction has been dogged by delays amid suspicions that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program. The oil-rich country insists that the plant, which will generate electricity, is part of an effort to diversify its energy sources.    

The reactor building of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is seen, some 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 3, 2007. Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr plant, which is at the center of the international tensions over Tehran's nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Monday Dec. 17, 2007.

In an appearance in Virginia, President Bush expressed support for the Russian delivery, saying it obviates the need for Iran to proceed with a program to enrich uranium. Bush also said he still believes that "Iran is a danger to peace," despite a recent U.S. intelligence finding that Tehran ended a covert nuclear weapons program four years ago.