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This is the timeline of thenuclear program of Iran.
1957: TheUnited States andIran sign a civil nuclear co-operation agreement as part of the U.S.Atoms for Peace program.[1]
August 9, 1963: Iran signs thePartial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) and ratifies it on December 23, 1963.[2]
1967: The Tehran Nuclear Research Centre is built and run by theAtomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
September 1967: The United States supplies 5.545 kilograms (kg) ofenriched uranium, of which 5.165 kg containfissile isotopes for fuel in a research reactor. The United States also supplies 112 grams ofplutonium, of which 104 g are fissile isotopes, for use as start-up sources for research reactor.[1]
July 1968: Iran signs theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and ratifies it. It goes into effect on March 5, 1970.
1970s: Under the rule ofMohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, plans are made to construct up to 20nuclear power stations across the country with U.S. support and backing. Numerous contracts are signed with various Western firms, and theWest German firmKraftwerk Union (a subsidiary ofSiemens AG) begins construction on theBushehr power plant in 1974.
1974: The Atomic Energy Act of Iran was promulgated. The Act covers the activities for which the AEOI was established at that period. These activities included using atomic energy and radiation in industry, agriculture and service industries, setting up atomic power stations and desalination factories, producing source materials needed in atomic industries. This creates the scientific and technical infrastructure required for carrying out the said projects, as well as co-ordinating and supervising all matters pertaining to atomic energy in the country.[3]
1974: The Shah lent $1 billion to theFrench Atomic Energy Commission to help build theEurodif uranium processing company in Europe. In exchange, Iran received rights to 10% of the enriched uranium product, a right Iran never exercised. After a bitter legal dispute, the loan was repaid in 1991.[4] Following the passage ofUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 in 2006, UN financial sanctions required France to freeze dividend payments to the AEOI.[5]
1975:Massachusetts Institute of Technology signs a contract with the AEOI to provide training for Iranian nuclear engineers.
1975: Iran buys a 15% interest in theRössing uranium mine inSouth West Africa. However, due to international pressure, it is never allowed to collect any uranium from this outside country.
1979: Iran'sIslamic revolution puts a freeze on the existing nuclear program and theBushehr contract withSiemens AG is terminated as the German firm leaves.
1982: Iranian officials announced that they planned to build a reactor powered by their own uranium at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre.
1983:International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors inspect Iranian nuclear facilities, and report on a proposed co-operation agreement to help Iran manufacture enriched uranium fuel as part of Iran's "ambitious program in the field of nuclear power reactor technology and fuel cycle technology." The assistance program is later terminated under U.S. pressure.
1984:Iranian radio announced that negotiations withNiger on the purchase of uranium were nearing conclusion.
1985: Iranian radio programs openly discuss the significance of the discovery of uranium deposits in Iran with the director of the AEOI. Also in this year Iran,Syria andLibya say that they should all develop nuclear weapons to counter theIsraeli nuclear threat.[6]
1989: the Radiation Protection Act of Iran was ratified in public session of April 9, 1989 by the Parliament and was approved by the Council of Law-Guardians on April 19, 1989.[3]
1990: Iran begins negotiations with theSoviet Union regarding the re-construction of the Bushehr power plant.
1992: Iran signs an agreement withChina for the building of two 950-megawatt reactors inDarkhovin (Western Iran). To date[when?], construction has not yet begun.
1993:China provides Iran with an HT-6BTokamakfusion reactor that is installed at the Plasma Physics Research Centre of Azad University.[1]
January 1995: Iran signs an$800 million contract with theRussian Ministry of Atomic Energy (MinAtom) to complete aLight water reactor in Bushehr under IAEA safeguards.[7][8]
1996: China and Iran inform the IAEA of plans to construct a nuclear enrichment facility in Iran, but China withdraws from the contract under U.S. pressure. Iran advises the IAEA that it plans to pursue the construction anyway.
August 2002: A spokesman for thePeople's Mujahedin of Iran group holds a press conference to expose two nuclear facilities inNatanz andArak.[9]
December 2002: TheUnited States accuses Iran of attempting to makenuclear weapons.
Spring 2003: Iran makes a comprehensive proposal of negotiations[10] with the United States that offers "full transparency for security that there are no Iranian endeavors to develop or possess WMD", joint decisive action against terrorists, coordination on a stable Iraq, coordination on nuclear matters, stop of any material support to Palestinian opposition groups (Hamas,Jihad etc.) resisting Israeli occupation, and a normalization of relationships. The offer is spurned by V.P. Cheney and the Bush administration, which insteadcriticizes theSwiss ambassador who forwarded the offer.
June 16, 2003:Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency, declares that "Iran failed to report certain nuclear materials and activities" and requests "co-operative actions" from the country. TheInternational Atomic Energy Agency does not at this time decide to declare Iran in non-compliance with its safeguards agreement under theNon-Proliferation Treaty.[11]
October 21, 2003: As a confidence-building measure, Iran and the EU-3 agree to negotiations under the terms of theParis Agreement, pursuant to which Iran agrees to temporarily suspend enrichment and permit more stringent set of nuclear inspections in accordance with the Additional Protocol, and the EU-3 explicitly recognizes Iran's right to civilian nuclear programs in accordance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The EU-3 submits a demand in August 2005 that Iranabandon enrichment nonetheless.
October 31, 2003: After negotiations with Iran and the U.S. on language in the IAEA document, the IAEA declares that Iran has submitted a "comprehensive" declaration of its nuclear program.[11]
November 11, 2003: The IAEA reports that Iran had many breaches and failures to comply with its safeguards agreement, including a "policy of concealment" from the IAEA, but also states that there is "no evidence" that Iran is attempting to build anatomic bomb.[11]
November 13, 2003: The Bush administration claims that the IAEA conclusion of "no evidence" is "impossible to believe."[11]
December 18, 2003: As agreed in the Paris Agreement, Iran voluntarily signs and implements theAdditional Protocol to theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty[12] Though the Protocol was not binding on Iran until ratified, Iran voluntarily agrees to permit expanded and more intensive IAEA inspections pursuant to the Protocol, which fail to turn up a nuclear weapons program in Iran. Iran ends the voluntary implementation of Additional Protocol after two years of inspections, as a protest to continued EU-3 demands that Iran abandon all enrichment.
June 2004:Kamal Kharrazi, Iran's foreign minister, responding to demands that Iran halt its nuclear program, says: "We won't accept any new obligations. Iran has a high technical capability and has to be recognised by the international community as a member of the nuclear club. This is an irreversible path."[13]
June 14, 2004: Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA, accuses Iran of "less than satisfactory" co-operation during the IAEA investigation of its nuclear program. ElBaradei demands "accelerated and proactive cooperation" from Iran which exceed the terms of Iran's legal obligations.
July 27, 2004: Iran removes seals placed upon uraniumcentrifuges by theInternational Atomic Energy Agency and resumes construction of the centrifuges at Natanz.[14]
On June 29, 2004, IAEA Director General Mohammad ElBaradei announced that the Bushehr reactor was "not of international concern"[15] since it was a bilateral Russian-Iranian project intended to produce nuclear energy.
July 31, 2004: Iran states that it has resumed building nuclearcentrifuges to enrich uranium, reversing a voluntary October 2003 pledge toBritain,France, andGermany to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities. The United States contends that the purpose is to produceweapons-grade uranium.
August 10, 2004: Several long-standing charges and questions regarding weapons-grade uranium samples found in Iran are clarified by the IAEA. Some samples matchPakistani and Russian sources which had contaminated imported Iranian equipment from those countries. The sources of the remaining samples remain unaccounted for.
August 24, 2004: Iranian Foreign MinisterKamal Kharrazi declares inWellington,New Zealand, that Iran will retaliate with force againstIsrael or any nation that attempts a pre-emptive strike on its nuclear program. Earlier in the week, Israel'sChief of Staff, GeneralMoshe Ya'alon, told an Israeli newspaper that "Iran is striving for nuclear capability and I suggest that in this matter [Israel] not rely on others."
September 6, 2004: The latest IAEA report finds that "unresolved issues surrounding Iran's atomic program are being clarified or resolved outright".[16]
September 18, 2004: The IAEA unanimously adopts a resolution calling on Iran to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment.
September 21, 2004: Iran announces that it will continue its nuclear program converting 37tonnes ofyellowcakeuranium for processing incentrifuges.
October 18, 2004: Iran states that it is willing to negotiate with theU.K.,Germany, andFrance regarding a suspension of itsuranium enrichment activities, but that it will never renounce its right to enrich uranium.
October 24, 2004: TheEuropean Union makes a proposal to provide civilian nuclear technology to Iran in exchange for Iran terminating itsuranium enrichment program permanently. Iran rejects this outright, saying it will not renounce its right to enrichment technologies. A decision to refer the matter from theInternational Atomic Energy Agency to theUnited Nations Security Council is expected on November 25, 2004.
November 15, 2004: Talks between Iran and three European Union members, theUnited Kingdom,France, andGermany, result in a compromise. Iran agrees to temporarily suspend its active uranium enrichment program for the duration of a second round of talks, during which attempts will be made at arriving at a permanent, mutually-beneficial solution.
November 15, 2004: A confidentialUN report is leaked. The report states that all nuclear materials within Iran have been accounted for and there is no evidence of any military nuclear program. Nevertheless, it still cannot discount the possibility of such a program because it does not have perfect knowledge.[17]
November 22, 2004: Iran declares that it will voluntarily suspend its uranium enrichment program to enter negotiations with the EU. Iran will review its decision in three months. The EU seeks to have the suspension made permanent and is willing to provide economic and political incentives.
November 24, 2004: Iran seeks to obtain permission from the European Union, in accordance with its recent agreement with the EU, to allow it to continue working with 24centrifuges for research purposes.
November 28, 2004: Iran withdraws its demand that some of its technology be exempted from a freeze on nuclear enrichment activities.[18]
Jan 17, 2005: Iran offers a proposal to the EU. It includes:An Iranian commitment not to pursue weapons of mass destruction;cooperation on combating terrorism, and on regional security, including for Iraq and Afghanistan; andcooperation on strategic trade controls.[19] The proposal was not accepted.
Mar 23, 2005: Iran offers a proposal to the EU including: Iran's adoption of the IAEA Additional Protocol and continuous on-site inspections at key facilities; as well as limiting the expansion of Iran's enrichment program, and a policy declaration of no reprocessing.[19] The proposal was not accepted.
June 2005:U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice said IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei should either "toughen his stance on Iran" or fail to be chosen for a third term as the agency's head. Following a one on one meeting between Rice and ElBaradei on June 9, the United States withdrew its opposition and ElBaradei was re-elected to his position on June 13, 2005.[20]
August 5, 2005: The EU-3 submit a proposal to Iran pursuant to the Paris Agreement which requires Iran to permanently cease enrichment. The proposal is rejected by Iran as a violation of the Paris Agreement and Iran's Non-Proliferation Treaty rights.
Between August 8 and August 10, 2005: Iran resumed the conversion of uranium at the Isfahan facility, under IAEA safeguards, but did not engage in enrichment of uranium.
August 9, 2005: The IranianHead of State,AyatollahAli Khamenei, issued afatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons. The full text of the fatwa was released in an official statement at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency inVienna.
August 11, 2005: The 35-member governing board of the IAEA adopted a resolution calling upon Iran to suspend uranium conversion, and instructing ElBaradei to submit a report on Iran's nuclear program by September 3, 2005.
August 15, 2005: Iran's new president,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, installed his new government. Iranian presidents do not have exclusive control over Iran's nuclear program, which falls mainly under the purview of Iran's Supreme Leader.Ali Larijani replacedHassan Rowhani as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top policy-making body, with nuclear policy in his purview.
September 15, 2005: Ahmadinejad stated at aUnited Nations high-level summit that Iran has the right to develop a civil nuclear-power program within the terms of the 1970 treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. He offered a compromise solution in which foreign companies would be permitted to invest and participate in Iran's nuclear program, which he said would ensure that it could not be secretly diverted to make nuclear weapons.[citation needed]
September 24, 2005: The IAEA Board of Governors finds that the failures and breaches reported in November 2003 constitute non-compliance with Iran's safeguards agreement.[21]
October 10, 2005: Iranian Oil Ministry Deputy for International Affairs Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said that Iran could run out of oil reserves in nine decades.[22]
November 5, 2005: The Iranian government approved a plan that allows foreign investors to participate in the work at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant. The cabinet also authorised the AEOI to take necessary measures to attract foreign and domestic investment in theuranium enrichment process.[23]
November 19, 2005: The IAEA released a report saying that Iran blocked nuclear inspectors from theUnited Nations from conducting a second visit to a site known as Parchin military complex, where Iran was not legally required to allow inspections at all. The first inspections had failed to turn up any evidence of a nuclear program. IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said in the report, "Iran's full transparency is indispensable and overdue." Separately, Iran confirmed that it had resumed the conversion of new quantities of uranium pursuant to its rights under the NPT, despite an IAEA resolution to stop such work.
January 2006: Iran provides the European negotiating side with a six-point proposal, which includes an offer to again suspend uranium enrichment for a period of two years, pending the outcome of continued negotiations. The offer is dismissed by the Europeans, and not reported in the Western press.[24]This offer of compromise follows several other offers from Iran, all of which were summarily dismissed by the US.
January 31, 2006: The IAEA reports that "Iran has continued to facilitate access under its Safeguards Agreement as requested by the Agency ... including by providing in a timely manner the requisite declarations and access to locations" and lists outstanding issues.[25]
January 2006:The New York Times reporterJames Risen publishedState of War, in which he alleged a CIA operation code-namedOperation Merlin backfired and may have helped Iran in its nuclear program, in an attempt to delay it feeding them false information.
February 4, 2006: The IAEA votes 27–3 to report Iran to theUnited Nations Security Council. After the vote, Iran announced its intention to end voluntary co-operation with the IAEA beyond basicNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty requirements, and to resume enrichment of uranium.[26]
March 2006: The U.S.National Security Strategy decried Iran, stating that "Iran has violated its Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards obligations and refuses to provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes."[27] The term "objective guarantees" is understood to mean permanent abandonment of enrichment.
March 15, 2006: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reaffirms Iran's commitment to developing a domestic nuclear power industry.[28]
March 27, 2006: In aForeign Policy article entitled "Fool Me Twice",Joseph Cirincione, director for non-proliferation at theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace, claimed that "some senior officials have already made up their minds: They want to hit Iran." and that there "may be a co-ordinated campaign to prepare for a military strike on Iran." Joseph Cirincione also warns "that a military strike would be disastrous for the United States. It would rally the Iranian public around an otherwise unpopular regime, inflame anti-American anger around the Muslim world, and jeopardise the already fragile U.S. position in Iraq. And it would accelerate, not delay, the Iranian nuclear program. Hard-liners in Tehran would be proven right in their claim that the only thing that can deter the United States is a nuclear bomb. Iranian leaders could respond with a crash nuclear program that could produce a bomb in a few years."[29]
April 11, 2006: Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had enriched uranium to reactor-grade using 164centrifuges. He said, "I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology. This is the result of the Iranian nation's resistance. Based on international regulations, we will continue our path until we achieve production of industrial-scale enrichment". He reiterated that the enrichment was performed for purely civil power purposes and not for weapons purposes.
April 28, 2006: The International Atomic Energy Agency hands a report titledImplementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN Security Council.[30] The IAEA says that Iran has stepped up its uranium enrichment programs during the 30-day period covered by the report.[31]
June 1, 2006: The UN Security Council agrees to a set of proposals designed to reach a compromise with Iran.[32]
July 31, 2006:United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696 gave until August 31, 2006 for Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment and related activities or face the prospect of sanctions.[33] The draft passed by a vote of 14-1 (Qatar, which represents Arab states on the council, opposing). The same day, Iran's U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif qualified the resolution as "arbitrary" and illegal because the NTP protocol explicitly guarantees under international law Iran's right to pursue nuclear activities for peaceful purposes. In response to today's vote at the UN, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that his country will revise his position vis-à-vis the economic/incentive package offered previously by the G-6 (5 permanent Security council members plus Germany.)[34]
September 16, 2006: (Havana, Cuba) All of the 118Non-Aligned Movement member countries declare their support for Iran's nuclear program for civilian purposes in their final written statement[1]. That is a clear majority of the 192 countries comprising the entireUnited Nations.
December 23, 2006:United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 was unanimously passed by theUnited NationsSecurity Council.[35] The resolution, sponsored byFrance,Germany and theUnited Kingdom,[36] imposed sanctions against Iran for failing to stop its uranium enrichment program following Security Council Resolution 1696. It banned the supply of nuclear-related technology and materials and froze the assets of key individuals and companies related to the enrichment program.[37] The resolution came after the rejection of UN economic incentives for Iran to halt their nuclear enrichment program. The sanctions will be lifted if Iran suspends the "suspect activities" within 60 days to the satisfaction of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency.[35]
January 15, 2007:Ardeshir Hosseinpour, an Iranian junior scientist involved in The Uranium Conversion Facility atIsfahan, dies, reportedly due to "gassing".[38] Several other scientists may also be killed or injured, and treated in nearby hospitals.[39]
January 21, 2007: The death ofArdeshir Hosseinpour is finally reported by the Al-Quds daily[40] and the Iranian Student's News Agency[41] (in Arabic & Persian).[39]
February 2, 2007: The U.S. private intelligence companyStratfor releases a report saying thatArdeshir Hosseinpour was killed by theMossad through radioactive poisoning.[42][43]
February 4, 2007: Reva Bhalla ofStratfor confirms the details of Stratfor's report toThe Sunday Times.[43] Despite the previous reports, the "semi-official"[44]Fars News Agency reports that an unnamed informed source inTehran told them thatArdeshir Hosseinpour was not involved in the nuclear facility at Isfahan, and that he "suffocated by fumes from a faulty gas fire in sleep."[45]
March 6, 2007:Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of AEOI declared that Iran has started construction of a domestically builtnuclear power plant with capacity of 360 MW inDarkhovin, in southwestern Iran.
March 24, 2007:United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 is adopted unanimously by theUnited Nations Security Council (UNSC). In theUNSC resolution, the Council resolved to tighten the sanctions imposed on Iran in connection withthat nation's nuclear program. It also resolved to impose a ban on arms sales and to step up the freeze on assets already in place.[46]
April 9, 2007: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran could producenuclear fuel on an industrial scale. Some officials said 3,000uranium gas enrichment centrifuges were running at theNatanz plant in central Iran.[47]
June 7, 2007: *Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad ElBaradei was quoted by the BBC as warning against the views of "new crazies who say 'let's go and bomb Iran'".[48][49]
June 30, 2007: U.S. Congressional RepresentativesMark S. Kirk andRobert E. Andrews proposed a bill to sanction against any company or individual that provides Iran with refined petroleum products. The plan is to pressure Iran over its nuclear program from December 31, 2007.[50][51]
December 3, 2007: The U.S. Intelligence Community released a National Intelligence Estimate concluding that Iran "halted its nuclear weapons program" in 2003, but "is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons."[52]
December 11, 2007: British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons program, as a U.S. intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Tehran.[53]
December 16, 2007: Iran's president said on Sunday the publication of a U.S. intelligence report saying Iran had halted a nuclear weapons program in 2003 amounted to a "declaration of surrender" by Washington in its row with Tehran.[54]
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