ISTANBUL

The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin has taken additional steps to ensure the safety of Russian staff at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran.

During a joint press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi in Moscow, Alexey Likhachev said that they discussed the Middle East situation extensively, particularly in Iran, and that he informed the IAEA chief about what is currently happening at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

Likhachev said that Putin is “closely involved” in this matter and that they regularly report to him on the situation, both in terms of safety and the evacuation at the site, as well as regarding prospects for the development of production and construction at the facility.

“I can say that the president has taken several steps to further ensure the safety of both our comrades at the station and our convoys, which were aimed at evacuating people from the site,” he said, without further elaboration.

He added that Rosatom has never had or does not have any information about nuclear weapons in Iran. “So far, I understand that other than political statements, no other evidence has been provided,” he said.

"As long as we can, we will be present and do everything we can to ensure that Bushehr-1 operates as normal, and, of course, that the station under construction has the potential to be returned and quickly rebooted as a construction project," he added.

In an earlier statement, Rosatom said Likhachev and Grossi held another round of consultations in an interdepartmental format, which also included discussions on the situation surrounding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

On Wednesday, Likhachev told the corporate newspaper Strana Rosatom that another 150 specialists from the Bushehr plant were evacuated on the nights of March 10 and 11 and that approximately 450 Russian personnel are still at the plant for now.

For his part, Grossi said during the press conference that the situation concerning Iran's nuclear program has always been "problematic."

"And this is why the IAEA is trying and must be objective here," Grossi said, expressing that while there is "no systematic organized plan in the direction of fabrication of nuclear weapons," according to their estimations, there are "very serious concerns" given limitations by Iran to inspection work by the IAEA.

He called on Iran to provide the agency with the necessary access to "show transparency" and to allow them to give the "credible, tangible assurances to the international community that there is no problem."

"So we hope that there will be a possibility, sooner rather than later, to go back to the negotiating table in order to have a predictable, longstanding agreement," he stated.

In later remarks to Russian journalists, Grossi was also quoted as expressing the IAEA's hope for the resumption of negotiations between the US and Iran on the latter's nuclear program and the development of a long-term solution.

"We're trying to do this. I think it's clear to everyone that a long-term solution is needed. To achieve this, we need to return to the negotiating table. This will require technical expertise and support from the IAEA. I hope we can achieve this," Grossi said, according to state news agency TASS.

Answering a question about the likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe in the Middle East, Grossi described the situation surrounding nuclear facilities in the region as "very delicate" and that they will be walking a "fine line" between peace and war until a reasonable agreement is found.