TEHRAN — Iran will remain Russia’s top priority in West Asia, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said Saturday, as Moscow steps up the return of Russian specialists to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant following the U.S.-Israeli attacks on the country.
“We are actively working in the Middle East, and Iran will be and remain our priority,” Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev said in an interview with Sputnik.
Likhachev said the situation surrounding Iran hass not yet been fully resolved, but Rosatom is restoring its personnel presence in Iran and is sending dozens of specialists to work on the construction and maintenance of the first unit at Bushehr.
“I very much hope that our Iranian friends will proceed with work at the new sites. These are large and small units. Our agreement with them has been reached,” he said.
The remarks come as Rosatom accelerates the return of personnel evacuated from Iran after the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli terrorist military campaign against the country in February.
The first groups of Russian specialists began returning to Bushehr in the summer. Likhachev said in August that several dozen more employees would be sent to Iran in September, with the number of Rosatom personnel at the plant expected to exceed 100.
By early September, the number of Russian specialists at Bushehr had reached 45, with another group of about 50 expected to arrive, according to Likhachev. The returning personnel are involved in construction and technical work, while specialists are also preparing for scheduled maintenance of the plant’s first operating unit.
Russia’s nuclear cooperation with Iran extends beyond the operating first unit. Rosatom is 
constructing two additional reactors at Bushehr, Units 2 and 3, with a combined capacity of about 2,100 megawatts. Construction of the second phase began in 2016.
Likhachev said in June that Rosatom had prepared a plan to restore its full personnel presence at Bushehr and that Russian engineers remaining at the site were continuing to work with Iranian contractors. He said equipment for the first and second units was also being produced at Russian machine-building enterprises.
The return of Russian specialists follows repeated attacks in the vicinity of the Bushehr plant during the U.S.-Israeli terrorist war on Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that a projectile struck the premises of the Bushehr plant on March 17, although no damage to the facility or injuries were initially reported. Further incidents were reported on March 24 and March 27, while on April 4 the Iranian nuclear regulator reported that a projectile struck very close to the plant’s fence, damaging a building through blast effects and fragments and killing a member of the plant’s physical protection personnel.
Russia sharply warned about the danger to the facility. President Vladimir Putin said Russia remained involved in Bushehr and stressed the importance of protecting the plant and Russian personnel working there.
Rosatom’s Likhachev also called for the establishment of a “safety island” around Bushehr after a projectile struck a structure about 350 meters from the reactor. The IAEA confirmed that the reactor itself was not damaged and that there was no reported radiation release.
Despite the attacks and the evacuation of Russian personnel, work on Bushehr has continued. Likhachev has repeatedly said that Russia intends to maintain the project among Rosatom’s priorities, while Tehran and Moscow are also moving ahead with plans for additional nuclear capacity.