TEHRAN:  Iran and Russia have discussed ways to further promote cooperation in the nuclear energy sector, including the construction of new units at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran’s atomic energy agency revealed.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said enhancing strategic nuclear cooperation was an important topic in Wednesday’s meeting between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the official news agency IRNA reported on Friday.

“Negotiations are underway between Tehran and Moscow to construct the second and third units of the Bushehr power plant,” said Kamalvandi.

Kamalvandi expressed hope that Iranian and Russian technical groups would soon increase cooperation and exchange of information to kickstart the projects.

He said each project at the power plant was worth 5 billion U.S. dollars, and would thus constitute a significant part of their economic ties.