The launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran has been delayed due to technical reasons, the head of Russia's Atomstroiexport company said yesterday.

Last month, Russia's nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko said the plant will be commissioned in September 2007, with the power generating launch to take place two months later. The plant was originally scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2006.

Some senior Russian officials rejected in September a claim that Moscow could stop the construction work if the UN imposed sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment or if it expelled inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog.

"All launch delays of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran are of a technical or management nature," said Atomstroiexport President Sergei Shmatko Wednesday, adding that the Bushehr project is unique in terms of technology and construction techniques.

Atomstroiexport is building Bushehr's first power unit under a 1-billion-U.S. dollar contract signed by Russia and Iran in 1995. The plant is being constructed under the supervision of the IAEA. An additional protocol was signed by the two countries last month.

Iran has been at the center of an international dispute this year over its nuclear ambitions. The United States and other countries suspect Iran of pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program, which Tehran has consistently denied.

The UN adopted a resolution on Iran July 31 demanding that the country suspend uranium enrichment by Aug. 31 or face sanctions. But Tehran, which said it needs nuclear energy for civilian needs, refused to comply.

The Iranian Students News Agency has fueled more fears around the country's nuclear program, quoting on Wednesday an informed source as confirming Iran had installed a second cascade for uranium enrichment two weeks ago at the Natanz pilot enrichment plant in central Iran and will start injecting uranium gas into it within days.

The United States and Britain renewed calls for sanctions against Iran when negotiations between the country's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana failed to make any breakthrough earlier this month.