TEHRAN – Russia to build a new nuclear power plant in Iran capable ofgenerating up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity, energy minister RezaArdakanian said Saturday, according to the Tasnim news agency.

The Islamic Republic currently has the capacity to produce 1,000 megawattsof nuclear electricity, Tasnim reported.

Iran already runs one Russian-built nuclear reactor at Bushehr, its first.Russia signed a deal with Iran in 2014 to build up to eight more reactorsin the country.