From Iran Focus:

The Associated Press

By AIDA SULTANOVA

ImageBAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijan halted a Russian shipment of equipment intended for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, demanding more information for fear of violating United Nations sanctions, officials said Monday.

The Russian state-run company Atomstroiexport said one or two trucks carrying the equipment were stopped two weeks ago at the town of Astara, on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border.

Agency spokeswoman Irina Yesipova said officials were holding talks with both Azerbaijan and Iran. There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.

Iran is paying Russia more than $1 billion to build the light-water reactor. Construction has been held up in recent months by disputes between Tehran and Moscow over payments and a schedule for shipping nuclear fuel.

Russia delivered the final shipment of uranium fuel in January, and Tehran has said it was hoping the plant would begin operations by summer.

The United States initially opposed Russia’s building Bushehr, but later softened its position after Iran agreed to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia to ensure it does not extract plutonium from it that could be used to make atomic bombs.

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