"I cannot name a date" as to when the crucial agreement will be signed, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev told AFP. "We have not agreed with Iran about anything yet."

On Tuesday, attending a general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the minister said Russia was set to resolve its dispute with Iran over the return of the spent fuel, a key condition for concluding its 800 million dollar (715 million euro) project at Bushehr, in western Iran.

"There is nothing preventing us from agreeing.... We will agree," he said.

However speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Moscow with US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Rumyantsev said the negotiating process with Iran was "taking a long time -- these are prolonged discussions."

Russia has called on Iran to abide by the IAEA's deadline for Iran to prove by October 31 that it is not secretly developing atomic weapons.

Iran's first nuclear power station in Bushehr is due to go online in 2005.

Washington, which suspects Tehran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, has been pressing Russia strongly not to sign an accord.

Abraham in in Moscow to sign the Nuclear Cities Initiative, a programme aimed at enhancing US and global security by supporting weapons reduction in Russian cities where nuclear weapons are stationed or nuclear sites are located.

WAR.WIRE