Rosatom resumes Bushehr work as $25 billion Sirik plant expands

Rosatom reported on October 11 that 135 engineering and technical specialists had returned to the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Iran's southern coast. The Russian state corporation paused operations there after the US-Iran war began in February, evacuating most of its workforce. The return of personnel marks a resumption of activity at Iran's first operating nuclear station.

Construction on two additional reactor units at Bushehr is also underway. A second unit has passed the 60 percent completion mark, with a target start date of 2029. A third unit is in the early stages of construction. The completed complex will have a capacity of under 3 gigawatts.

The expansion extends beyond the existing site. In September 2025, Russia and Iran signed an agreement to build the Sirik nuclear power plant in Hormozgan Province, near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's state news agency IRNA reported the deal is worth $25 billion. The new facility will have a combined capacity of about 5 gigawatts, which exceeds the total output of the finished Bushehr complex.

The partnership is grounded in a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty that entered into force in October 2025. A specific Cooperation Plan for 2024-2026 was approved in September 2024, providing a practical roadmap for these projects. Nikita Smagin, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in November 2025 that the balance in the relationship is shifting in Russia's favor. He noted that Russia remains one of the few available sources of investment for Iran.

International oversight of these activities has become more difficult. The International Atomic Energy Agency stated in a June 4 report that it inspected Bushehr from June 1 to 3. However, the agency could not carry out inspections at four other declared nuclear sites during that period. These sites include uranium enrichment facilities. The IAEA said it could not verify the status of nuclear material there or confirm if Iran had suspended enrichment and reprocessing activities.

The Sirik project ties Iran's civilian nuclear sector to Russian technology and fuel supplies for decades. This deepens a relationship that analysts say serves mutual economic and strategic interests. Dmitry Kovchegin and Arkady Mil-Man of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies described Moscow's approach as a calculated balancing strategy. They said Russia uses the partnership to strengthen its position in negotiations with Washington while offering limited assistance to Iran.