The Russian state-run company building a nuclear plant in Iran warned Wednesday that Iranian payment delays may cause “irreversible” damage to the project, The Associated Press news agency reports.

Russian nuclear officials said Monday that the Bushehr nuclear plant it is building in Iran would not be launched in September as planned because of Iranian payment delays. As a result, Atomstroiexport said, it would not ship the uranium fuel needed to power the plant to Iran this month, as earlier expected.

But Atomstroiexport insisted Wednesday that it had received no payments since mid-January. “If the Iranian side doesn‘t resume funding for the project, the process could become irreversible,” it said.

The company said that it was continuing works in Bushehr, “relying on Iran to show common sense and resume funding.”

Sell told reporters on a trip to Moscow that Russia‘s actions were “consistent with our common interests and common concerns as to what‘s going on in Iran.”

The U.S. and its Western allies have been pressing Iran for more transparency in its nuclear program, fearing it is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and the U.N. Security Council U.N. Security Council has demanded Tehran halt its uranium enrichment program.

Sell told reporters during a trip to Moscow that “Russia‘s interests related to what is going on in Iran are similar to the United States interests.”

Diplomats voiced optimism Tuesday that they were moving closer to agreement on new sanctions, likely including an embargo on arms exports and an asset freeze on more individuals and companies linked to Tehran‘s nuclear and missile programs.

Moscow‘s recent tough line on Bushehr appeared, however, to signal increasing annoyance with Iran and a possible warming on Western-proposed sanctions.

Kiriyenko told Russian news agencies that the plant‘s launch scheduled for September had been pushed back by “two months at the minimum” because of Iran‘s payment delays and its failure to get the necessary equipment for the plant from unidentified third countries.

“We will ship the fuel six months before the launch,” Kiriyenko was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies on a trip to Italy, where he was accompanying Russia‘s President Vladimir Putin . “It‘s not a political action, it‘s technical requirements.”

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