Iran seeks to produce 20,000 megawatts of nuclear energy by 2041.
Iran has one nuclear power plant at its southern port of Bushehr that went online in 2011 with help from Russia, but also several underground nuclear facilities.
In 2019, Iran and Russia inaugurated a new phase of construction for a second reactor at Bushehr.
In 2022, Iran began construction on a new nuclear power plant in the country's southwest. At the time, it was reported that the 300-megawatt plant, known as Karoon, would take eight years to build and cost around $2 billion.
IRNA quoted Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s atomic agency, as saying on Thursday it will take up to nine years to complete the new plants.
The report said the four new plants are being built in the port town of Sirik on Iran’s east coast, some 1,150 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.
The project is expected to cost some $20 billion and will create 4,000 jobs.
