Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which Russia is building in southern Iran, should come online this summer, Russian news agencies reported.

""The launch of the first unit of Iran's nuclear power station should be implemented already this summer,"" Putin said at a meeting on nuclear industry matters in the city of Volgodonsk.
Vladimir Pavlov, the official in charge of the project at state-run Atomostroiexport, the state-controlled company building the reactor, said ""the physical launch of the station is scheduled for July.""
The announcement by Putin sparked a criticism from visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who claimed such a decision would be ""premature"".
Clinton was in Moscow for a meeting of Middle East peace mediators and talks with Russian officials including President Dmitry Medvedev.