MOSCOW - Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday criticized Russia's plans to start up a nuclear power station in Iran, describing them as premature. As Clinton was entering a meeting in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced in a provincial city that Russia would start up the nuclear reactor it is building at Iran's Bushehr plant in the summer. Asked at a subsequent news conference about Putin's announcement, a stern-looking Clinton responded that if Iran reassured the world that it was not pursuing nuclear weapons, then it could pursue civil nuclear power. "In the absence of those reassurances, we think it would be premature to go forward with any project at this time because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians," she said. Lavrov defended Russia's nuclear cooperation with Tehran, whose program is monitored by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran denies U.S. charges that its real intention is to build a nuclear weapon. "Bushehr plays a special role in maintaining the IAEA's presence in Iran, in ensuring that Iran is complying with its non-proliferation obligations," Lavrov said. Russia agreed to build the 1,000-megawatt reactor at Bushehr 15 years ago but delays have haunted the $1 billion project and diplomats say Moscow has used it as a lever in relations with Tehran. It will be Iran's first nuclear power plant. The disagreement overshadowed the major goals of Clinton's visit -- to seek Moscow's backing for tougher sanctions against Iran and clear obstacles to a U.S.-Russian agreement cutting both sides' nuclear arsenals. Clinton is keen to produce results from the drive to improve relations with Russia which began when she presented Lavrov in March 2009 with a red button labeled "Reset", symbolizing hopes of a fresh start. Clinton said both sides expected to sign their pact cutting nuclear weapons soon but conceded that negotiators had still not finished their work on a new treaty. "We have a saying in the United States -- don't count your chickens until they hatch," she told reporters. "And that means that we are beginning our discussions about where and when our two presidents will sign the START agreement but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. First our negotiators have to sign on the dotted line." Talks have dragged on in Geneva for almost a year on a new treaty to replace the Cold War-era START I pact, missing an original deadline of December. Despite numerous assurances from both sides that agreement is near, a final deal has remained elusive. Raising hopes of a possible breakthrough, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity that Clinton would meet Putin on Friday, a last-minute addition to her visit. Diplomats say no significant breakthrough on an arms control treaty or on sanctions against Iran is likely without the agreement of Putin, Russia's most powerful politician. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also in Moscow for a Friday meeting of Middle East mediators, urged Russia and the United States to sign the new arms control pact "as soon as possible" during talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.
