Russia's Rosatom Begins Main Phase Of Evacuating Staff From Iran

(MENAFN- IANS) Moscow, April 5 (IANS) Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has begun the main phase of evacuating staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said.

A total of 198 Rosatom employees are being transported by bus toward the Iranian-Armenian border, Likhachev said.

"We very much hope that within two to three days our colleagues will safely cross nearly the entire territory of Iran and return home to our country," he said.

Likhachev added that the Iranian side is doing a great deal to ensure the safety of the Rosatom staff evacuation route, and cooperation with the Armenian government is proceeding smoothly, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Russian nuclear specialists will leave the region from Yerevan airport, he said.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran reported earlier that a projectile had hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant, killing one security worker and marking the fourth such attack since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tehran seeks to secure the terms of a "conclusive and lasting" end to the US and Israeli war imposed on the country.

Araghchi condemned a US-Israeli strike near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant and warned of its potential lethal consequences for the West Asia region.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant, located about 17 km southeast of the city of Bushehr and under the cooperation with Russia, began supplying electricity in September 2011. In November 2014, Iran and Russia signed a cooperation agreement to add two reactors to the plant.

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