Media reports said on Monday that Iran is moving to finalize plans with Russia to build at least two more nuclear power plants on its southern Gulf shores.

Media reports said on Monday that Iran is moving to finalize plans with Russia to build at least two more nuclear power plants on its southern Gulf shores.

The announcement came as Russia's Rosatom deputy chief Nikolai Spassky arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit during which he will meet senior nuclear officials.

Spassky will also meet Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a senior negotiator in talks with world powers on Iran's nuclear ambitions, the official IRNA news agency reported, without elaborating.

Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said after months of negotiations, the deal will be signed this week, the ISNA news agency reported.

Under a provisional agreement, Russia will build two more 1,000-megawatt plants next to Iran's sole existing plants in the southern Gulf port city of Bushehr.

Oil-rich Iran says it wants to operate at least 20 nuclear power plants capable of producing 20,000 megawatts of electricity, as a way of decreasing dependency on its vast oil and gas resources.

"It is possible that in addition to the two nuclear power plants, we will also discuss further power plants," Kamalvandi added.