MOSCOW — Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to an Iranian nuclear power plant at the center of the international tensions over Tehran's atomic program, the Foreign Ministry said today.

The United States and Russia said the delivery gave Iran another reason to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

"If that's the case — if the Russians are willing to do that, which I support — then the Iranians do not need know how to enrich," President Bush said in Fredricksburg, Va. "If the Iranians accept that uranium for civilian nuclear power, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich."

The U.S. has been unhappy about Russia helping Iran build the Bushehr nuclear plant. But Bush has supported Russia in providing uranium fuel to Iran — but only if Moscow retrieves the used reactor fuel for reprocessing.

Iran contends the plant is strictly for civilian purposes, but critics say it could be used to advance efforts to build nuclear weapons.