Work on the two reactors "will commence next week," the state television website quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying.

Salehi said that Russia will begin construction on the two nuclear reactors, with work set to begin a year after Tehran signed a contract with Moscow to build the two reactors at the existing Russian-built Bushehr power plant in southern Iran. A series of agreements signed between the two countries last year foresees eventually increasing the total number of Russian-built reactors in the country to nine.

The start of construction follows a historic deal between Iran and world powers in July that ends a decade-long standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. According to the deal, Iran agreed to dramatically scale back its nuclear program, making it much more difficult for it to develop nuclear weapons. The accord does not however limit Iran's development of civilian nuclear sites. Construction of the two reactors will be bankrolled by Iran, Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom, said last year.