Fuel supply accord for Bushehr power plant will be finalized until the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2008), Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday.

He made the remarks after a meeting with former prime minister of Lebanon, Omar Karami, who arrived in Tehran on Monday. Speaking to reporters, Mottaki said that Bushehr nuclear power plant would become operational in the new Christian year.

"God willing, Bushehr power plant will start generating electricity for the country in the new Christian year," said the foreign minister.

The 1000-MW power plant is being built in cooperation with Russia based on a contract signed in 1995. It was scheduled to be completed in 2000, but was delayed over the past eight years for skeptical reasons. According to an agreed time table, the power plant is to be operational in Autumn 2008. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to meet with different heads of state on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday. The president is to attend the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York slated for September 23.

"Programs are at hand and Iran's Mission to the United Nations is making preparations for President Ahmadinejad's visit to the UN," Mottaki told reporters after a meeting with former prime minister of Lebanon, Omar Karami, who arrived in Tehran on Monday.
The president is scheduled to deliver statement to the UN meeting.