Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Saturday the Islamic Republic is set to begin the construction of two more nuclear power plants in the southern city of Bushehr soon

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Saturday the Islamic Republic is set to begin the construction of two more nuclear power plants in the southern city of Bushehr soon, Press TV reports.

“In the construction of nuclear power plants, as I have already stated, we hopefully, within the next few months, will be witnessing the launching of new reactors. Activities are going on and they are expanding even in some areas,” Salehi said in an exclusive interview with Press TV.

He added that Iran and Russia have signed agreements for the construction of “two big reactors in Bushehr.”

In November 2014, Tehran and Moscow struck a deal to build eight more nuclear power plants in Iran.

Russia has already built a power plant in Bushehr. The agreement for Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was finalized in 1995, but the project was delayed several times due to a number of technical and financial issues.

Salehi said the recognition of Iran’s enrichment activities by the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, was “one very good achievement” within a nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We are one among the very few or probably the very exceptional countries that its enrichment activity has been recognized by an international body such as the UN Security Council,” the AEOI head said, adding, “One of the achievements within this framework is the fact that we were able to sell or we got this opportunity to sell our enriched uranium and get in return natural uranium or the yellowcake.”

He described JCPOA as a “good deal” that allows Iran to enter the club of countries that can enrich uranium and sell it at global market.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia – plus Germany started to implement JCPOA on January 16.

Salehi also said Iran and the IAEA have entered into a new phase in cooperation and urged the body to remain impartial.

“The IAEA, being the sole verifying body, needs to keep its integrity and impartiality. Otherwise, its credibility will be questioned,” the Iranian official stated.