"The opening of the Bushehr Nuclear Station was postponed several times," Iranian Parliamentary Energy Commission Chairman Hamid Reza Katouzian said today.

"Russia has not fulfilled its obligations and Iran has felt a weakness in defending its national interests," Katouzian was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency. "For this reason, the committee wants to investigate the work conducted at the Bushehr Nuclear Station. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the parliament can sue the responsible agencies of the Iranian side in an Iranian court and Russian side in an international court."

"We expect serous results at the Iranian nuclear station by the end of year, but the launch will not take place," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Shmatko told journalists earlier in Moscow.

The station's launch at full capacity has been temporarily postponed. Russian and Iranian experts started trials at the station in February. Officials from both countries said the station will be put into exploitation in 2009. Bushehr will operate on Russian enriched uranium as opposed to fuel produced in Iran.

He added that the Iranian Energy Commission will study the activities of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Atomic Energy Organization and Russian experts at the Bushehr Nuclear Station.

The Iranian Energy Commission will develop and submit a bill to parliament to study the activities at the station next week, Katouzian said.

The Iranian-Russian contract to build the Bushehr Nuclear Station was signed in 1995 in Tehran. The contract's total value is $1 billion. The construction was initially to finish by Jan. 8, 1999. Ten years have passed, but the station is still not ready to open. The Russian AtomStroyExport company is building the plant.