[On Monday, CIA director Michael Hayden said North Korea built a nuclear
plant in Syria that could have produced enough plutonium to assemble up to
two atomic weapons per year. Hayden said full production of the plant --
destroyed by Israel in September 2007 -- would have been achieved within a
year of operation.]
    Ali Husseini did not identify the nuclear equipment held in Azerbaijan.
The spokesman said the nuclear shipment has been in Azerbaijan for three
weeks.
    Azerbaijan, an ally of the United States, has acknowledged the delay.
The Azeri government said it has sought to determine whether the nuclear
shipment violated United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran.
    Iran and Russia have agreed to accelerate the 1,000 megawatt Bushehr
reactor, scheduled to begin full operations in October 2008. But on April
21, Bushehr's prime contractor, Russia's state-owned Atomstroiexport, said
one or two trucks carrying equipment for Bushehr were stopped in Astara,
along the Azeri-Iranian border.
    Atomstroiexport spokeswoman Irina Yesipova said the trucks contained
what she termed heat-isolating systems. Ms. Yesipova said she did not
envision additional
delays to Bushehr.
    Iran has also reported the construction of a second nuclear reactor.
Officials said the facility was being built along the Iranian border with
Iraq and would have a capacity of 360 megawatts.
    "Now we need to think about the fuel for it," Iranian ambassador to
Russia, Gholamreza Ansari, said.