MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Ratification of the Russian-American agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy by the U.S. Congress must not be linked to Iran's nuclear program, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists in Moscow on Wednesday.
"We understand, that some Congressmen are advancing certain linkages, including over [Russia's] alleged cooperation with Iran in the [military] nuclear program. In fact, there is no linkage at all here. I think this is being done for political reasons, exclusively to put political pressure on our course," Ivanov said.
Ivanov also said that the only Russian-Iranian cooperation project - the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant - is an exclusively peaceful project and cannot be used to develop a weapons program.
Ratification of the agreement with Russia on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is "the United States' internal affair," he said. "I would not overly dramatize statements made by individual representatives of the Congress," he added.
Russia's state corporation Rosatom and the U.S. administration signed an agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in early May.
This agreement will seal and strengthen international cooperation between the two countries, Ivanov said. Russia will be able to supply low-enriched uranium to U.S. power plants at a price lower than that applied by U.S. suppliers, Ivanov remarked.
The agreement also envisions the mutual transfer of prospective nuclear know-how, he said.