Iran announced on Sunday that it will build eight new nuclear power plants with help from Russia, as part of its plan to expand clean and sustainable energy production, according to the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, ANI reported.

President Masoud Pezeshkian reaffirmed that Iran remains committed to a “peaceful nuclear programme,” assuring that the goal of the project is “not to develop weapons.”

Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, confirmed that a new agreement has been signed between Iran and Russia to jointly build the plants in several regions.

In Bushehr, four new nuclear power plants will be set up.

Another four plants will come up along Iran’s northern and southern coastlines, with the exact locations to be announced later by the government.

Eslami said these plants will provide “stable and clean nuclear energy” and will help raise the country’s total electricity generation to 20,000 megawatts through nuclear power.

Russian state media TASS quoted the AEOI press service, which said that construction of one of the plants has already started in the northern province of Golestan.

Speaking about Iran’s peaceful intentions, President Pezeshkian said, “Building a bomb is only a tiny, disproportionate, and inhumane part of this field, while the rest serves essential human needs,” ANI reported.

He also accused Western powers of trying to block independent countries, including Iran, from gaining access to advanced technology, keeping them dependent on assembly industries. He linked the attacks and assassinations of Iranian scientists to what he described as fear among major powers of Iran’s growing scientific and technological progress.

The announcement comes at a time of renewed tensions between Iran and the United States. In June 2025, attacks targeted Iran’s key nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow, triggering a 12-day conflict that hit both nuclear and military sites. The United States also joined in with strikes on Iran’s enrichment facilities.

Former US President Donald Trump recently warned that he would order new attacks if Iran restarts its nuclear programme.

Trump also claimed that the United States has “more nuclear weapons than any other country,” adding that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about de-nuclearisation.