( dpa ) - The third Russian fuel shipment arrived on Friday at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran despite warnings by Israel.
Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had on Thursday warned in Moscow that Russian nuclear fuel deliveries to Iran could be used for military purposes, Interfax reported.
Addressing her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, she said Iran showed proof of "dangerous ideology, bordering on madness," adding impetus to the danger of the Islamic state developing nuclear weapons.
But despite the warnings, the third shipment of 11 tons of enriched uranium arrived in the Bushehr port Friday and five further shipments are expected to be transferred before March.
According to the bilateral agreement, Iran is to receive a total of 82 tons of nuclear fuel for its Bushehr power plant within eight shipments.
Iran hopes to launch its first nuclear power station in summer 2008 but Russia says Bushehr would not go on line until end of the year.
The Iran-Russia joint project of Bushehr was originally supposed to be completed at the beginning of the millennium but has been delayed at least five times for various reasons.
Iran has said Russian shipments would not stop the country from pursuing its own uranium enrichment programme, which the UN Security Council has ordered Iran to suspend, threatening further US-backed sanctions.
The Israeli foreign minister said Russia was "vitally important in resolving the situation surrounding Iran," pointing to Russia's Security Council vote.