Iran's first nuclear power plant will be ready to generate electricity on April 9, atomic energy Chief Ali Akbar Salehi said on Friday

We hope that on Farvardin 20 (April 9) ... we will witness the connection of the plant to the national grid, Salehi was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying.

Salehi had earlier said that the plant could join the national power grid sometime around mid-February.

But he said on Friday that having a safe facility is more important than rushing to the production stage, local satellite channel Press TV reported.

The reactor has started its operation and the next step is to reach critical phase which will happen by the end of Bahman (February 20). We have said before that due to some tests, we may have face delays but these delays are around a week or two, he added.

He again reiterated that the computer worm Stuxnet had not entered the main systems, and that Iranians are pursing work with the Russians while observing all the safety issues.

Salehi rejected reports that the computer systems in Bushehr had been affected by the Stuxnet, saying the computer worm was not able to go beyond personal computers and enter the facility's main systems.

About the media reports that the US and Israel were behind the cyber attack on Iranian computer network, Salehi condemned the perpetrator's disregard for human life and their health.

'Westerners are not seeking people's health and security and will do anything to gain their aims even if it poses danger to human society,' he said.

He warned: 'If anything happens to a nuclear plant its repercussions will not be confined to one border and they should know better that such moves could affect them, too.'

Salehi also added that Iran is still abides by fuel swap based on Tehran declaration.

Iran, Turkey and Brazil signed a fuel proposal in Tehran on last May based on which Iran was to send half of its uranium stockpile to Turkey to be sent to Russia and France for further enrichment.

The West refused to accept the declaration.

The West and in particular the US accuses Iran of producing nuclear weapons; Iran denies the allegation and insists that its enrichment program only seeks peaceful purposes including power generation.

The UN Security Council has passed three sets of sanctions against Iran over the country's refusal to halt peaceful enrichment work.

The sanctions mainly target Iran's shipping industry, insurance, banking and energy sectors.

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