On Saturday, a report came out of Tehran the most important element of which the phrase, “finally.” Russia and Iran began delivering fuel to the Bushehr nuclear reactor after a three-decade delay. The Islamic Republic television broadcast the operation live, boasting to the public that in just a month 1000 megawatts of nuclear-generated electricity will enter Iran’s power grid¾exactly at a time when repeated power outages have left the Iranian people frustrated. At the same time, experts began wondering whether the Islamic Republic will continue its enrichment policy after the plant’s opening.

Two months ago, no timeline for the Bushehr plant’s operation existed; a point of constant criticism by principlist media outlets.

Now, however, experts note that Russia has “finally” finished the project in order to deprive Tehran of an excuse to enrich uranium to further levels.

Since 1995, when Russia accepted to cooperate with Iran in completing the Bushehr nuclear plant, the plants operation has been delayed several times. Western diplomats often claimed that Russia uses the nuclear plant as a leverage to manage its relations with Iran and the West. Russia has received payments of around one billion dollars to complete the plant, which was scheduled to go online in 2006.

Finally, Ali Akbar Salehi and Sergei Kiriyenko attended a press conference yesterday to announce the launching of the Bushehr nuclear plant.

According to France Presse, Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russian state nuclear energy corporation, said, “Moscow will completely hand over the Bushehr power plant’s management to Iran within the next two to three years.”

According to Kiriyenko, during the first phase of operation, Iran and Russia will jointly operate the plant, with the number of Iranian personnel equaling that of Russian personnel.

Ali Akbar Salehi, chief of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said at the press conference, “Russia’s cooperation in completing the Bushehr power plant will save the that country’s name in Iran’s golden history and will make Russia an eternal part of Iranian history.”

He added, “Tehran fully trusts Russia to provide the fuel for the Bushehr power plant.”

Experts believe the Russia’s decision to complete the plant is intended to deprive Iran of an excuse to continue its enrichment activities. Russia’s cooperation comes at a time when the two countries’ relations have hit a low, with Russia suspecting that Iran is intending to develop nuclear weapons.  In May, the Russian president Dmitri Medvedev announced that the Islamic Republic edging closer to developing nuclear weapons.

The Russian president’s remarks were made after Russia supported the imposition of the fourth round of Security Council sanctions on Iran; a move that was prompted complaint from Islamic Republic officials.