Iran is preparing to build new nuclear power plants, according to the country's state news agency IRNA. The Islamic Republic's nuclear energy production company signed agreements on Tuesday with six Iranian companies to find sites for the new plants. Iran's first nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russian help, is expected to be operational later this year.
The announcement that Iran is planning at least six new nuclear power plants comes as the United Nations prepares a new set of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to discontinue uranium enrichment, which could lead to the production of an atomic bomb.
Meanwhile, Iran also announced it had fired into space a rocket carrying a dummy satellite. Defense minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar vowed that Iran would soon put its own satellite into orbit. State television said the 'Safir' [Ambassador] rocket was capable of putting a "light satellite into low earth orbit" between 150 and 300 miles above the earth.
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