Russia's President Vladimir Putin has confirmed to Iran's President Ahmadinejad that Russia will finish the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.

During an interview with Iranian media, Vladimir Putin said that a number of circumstances had led to the delay in completion.

“In regard to Bushehr, I would like to point out that Russia was the only country to take on responsibility to fulfill this project. Our German partners started it but then pulled out. And this is where technological difficulties began. The German equipment is out of date but it is still there. There are also legal difficulties. Iran has signed contracts not only with Russia but with other countries, including North Korea. North Korea failed to fulfill its obligations to provide equipment so Russia had to find those missing parts. This resulted in delays in finishing this project,” President Putin explained.

RT’s political commentator Peter Lavelle believes the construction of the Bushehr plant should not be politicised as it is a purely commercial deal.

“Russia refuses to politicise this issue – this is something that we have been seeing for years now. This is a nuclear power plant for civilian use and it should not be connected to other activities that are alleged or believed to be happening in Iran, in regard to nuclear energy. It is a commercial deal,” Peter Lavelle commented.