TEHRAN, December 30 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's foreign minister said Sunday he hopes for expansion of cooperation with Russia.

"A positive time has come in relations between Russia and Iran, and economic cooperation of our countries is positively developing," Manouchehr Mottaki told journalists, adding that trade turnover in 2007 grew 100%.

Mottaki said the Bushehr nuclear power plant Russia is building in southern Iran will work to 50% of its capacity by summer 2008.

The Russian contractor for the $1 billion project, state-controlled Atomstroyexport, said earlier the plant will not be commissioned before the end of 2008.

The United States and other Western powers suspect Iran of secret plans to build nuclear weapons and have pushed for measures to force Tehran to halt uranium enrichment, which can be used in both electricity generation and weapons production, but Iran insists its nuclear program is purely civilian.