Iran readying for start-up of first nuclear reactor

BUSHEHR, Iran (AP) - Trucks rumbled into Iran's first reactor Saturday to begin loading tons of uranium fuel in a long-delayed startup touted by officials as both a symbol of the country's peaceful intentions to produce nuclear energy as well as a triumph over Western pressure to rein in its nuclear ambitions.

The Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant will be internationally supervised, including a pledge by Russia to safeguard it against materials being diverted for any possible use in creating nuclear weapons.

Iran's agreement to allow the oversight was a rare compromise by the Islamic state over its atomic program.