Iran touts $25B nuclear deal with Russia as US talks stall

Iran and Russia Sign $25 Billion Nuclear Cooperation Deal

Iran’s ambassador to Russia revealed this week that Tehran and Moscow signed a $25 billion memorandum of understanding for nuclear cooperation, describing the agreement as the largest joint nuclear project ever undertaken between the two countries. The announcement came amid stalled US-Iran peace negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The Deal

Speaking at an online conference titled “Russia-Iran Cooperation in a Changing World” held in Moscow on Wednesday, Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali said the memorandum, signed in 2025, centers on the development of the Hormoz Nuclear Power Plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. The project is being carried out by Iran’s private sector in cooperation with Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation.wanaen

“This is Iran’s largest nuclear project,” Jalali said, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.tasnimnews

The ambassador also outlined additional areas of cooperation, including the expansion of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant — where the second and third units are under construction — as well as joint work on small-scale nuclear power plants and radiopharmaceutical production. Jalali noted that Iran now produces around 70 radiopharmaceutical products and ranked among the world’s top three producers in 2025.wanaen

Broader Context

The $25 billion agreement was originally signed in September 2025 to construct four Generation III reactors on a 500-hectare site in the Sirik region of Hormozgan province, according to Al Jazeera and Iran’s IRNA news agency. The plant is expected to produce 5 gigawatts of electricity. In March 2026, Rosatom’s chief Alexei Likhachev reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to its nuclear projects in Iran despite ongoing conflict in the Middle East.aljazeera

US-Iran Talks Stalled

Jalali’s public emphasis on the deal’s scope comes as US-Iran negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program remain in limbo. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said late Wednesday that “no tangible progress has been achieved in the negotiation process” with the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran surrender its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, while Washington earlier proposed a 20-year moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment — a demand Tehran rejected in favor of a five-year timeline.axios

The tentative ceasefire agreement reached in late May called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and initiating a new round of nuclear talks, but the broader question of Iran’s enrichment capabilities remains unresolved as both sides continue to exchange attacks in the Persian Gulf region.youtube