Iran Claims Western Cooperation on Nuke Plant

(Tehran, Iran) Presumably, sanctions are being ignored.

An Iranian nuclear official claimed Sunday that Western countries had declared their readiness to cooperate with Iran in the construction of its first home-made nuclear reactor in south- western Iran, Mehr news agency reported.

The 360-megawatt light-water nuclear reactor in Darkhowayn is under the supervision of the country's Atomic Energy Organization and is due to be finished by 2012

"The main part of the project is being done by local experts, but we will of course also try to use international experience, and several Western countries have already declared their readiness to cooperate with us in this project," Mehr quoted Hamid Soltani, the project's general manager, as saying.

He did not disclose the names of the Western countries, but pointed out that Russia would not be involved as the plant was being built to Western standards.

It's curious that the names of the cooperating Western countries were not disclosed. If true, it won't be an enduring secret.