Iran's first nuclear power plant be operational by end of 2008 at the earliest, Russian news agencies reported.
Russia said on December 17th it had delivered the first shipment of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr plant, a step Moscow and Washington said should convince Tehran to shut down its own disputed uranium enrichment programme.
But Iran said it would not halt its efforts to enrich uranium - fuel it says it needs for other power plants - but that Western powers fear could be used in a nuclear bomb.
The president of state-run Russian Atomstroiexport, which is building the facility, said the timing for the completion of Bushehr had been agreed with Iran but did not involve a specific date.
Atomstroiexport is building the nuclear reactors at the Bushehr plant, with the fuel supplied from Rosatom, the Russian state atomic energy agency.
Russia says Bushehr is being built under the supervision of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, ruling out any military use for the fuel or technology.