Moscow, Dec 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Russian women working at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant are not properly adhering to the Islamic republic's strict dress code, despite receiving extra pay for compliance, an Iranian lawmaker has said.

"Based on contracts signed with female Russian employees at the Bushehr power plant, they receive a hijab (head cover) payment," MP Mehdi Mousavinejad was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying.

"Unfortunately," he said, "they do not properly observe what [the contracts stipulate]."

He also criticised the authorities for lax oversight of the Russian employees.

Mousavinejad, however, said he did not know how many female technicians work at the NPP or how much they are paid.

Women in Iran, regardless of their nationality or religion, are enjoined to cover up everything but their hands and face.

Construction of Bushehr began in the 1970s but has been dogged by delays. Russia signed a billion-dollar deal with Tehran to complete the plant in 1998.