TEHRAN – December 1953, US President Dwight Eisenhower stood before theUnited Nations to deliver his “Atoms for Peace” speech.
In his address, he detailed a policy seeking to provide technology andeducational resources for friendly nations interested in developing anuclear programme for civilian purposes, including energy production.
As an ally of the United States, Iranlink> became one of thefirst beneficiaries of the programme.
In 1957, the two countries signed an agreement in Washington, DC,formalising their cooperation in order for Tehran to begin developingatomic energy for civilian purposes.
By 1974, US President Richard Nixon had sent experts to Tehran to help thecountry build its nuclear reactors. The US also helped train the firstbatch of Iran’s nuclear scientists at Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. Some of them would eventually help modernise Iran’s nuclearreactors.
Here’s a brief history of Iran’s nuclear programme.March 5, 1957link>
Iran and the United States sign an agreement concerning civil uses ofatomic energy. It is part of the “Atoms for Peace”link>policydeclared by Eisenhower in 1953.1959 link>
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, under whose rule Iran was a close ally of theUS and the UK, establishes the Tehran Nuclear Research Center.1967link>
link>TheUS provides Iran with its first research nuclear reactor, the TehranResearch Reactor, a five-megawatt apparatus that continues to be inoperation until today.February 2, 1970 link>
link>Iran ratifies the nuclearNon-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), making its programme subject toInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verification.March 1974link>
link>ShahReza Pahlavi announces a plan for Iran to build at least 20 nuclearreactors. Two months later, Nixon sends experts to Tehranlink>tohelp in the building of the reactors.Summer 1975link>
Iranian students arrive in the US to train as nuclear scientists at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology. According to the Boston Globe, atleast three of the 35 graduates will dedicate their careers building Iran’snuclear programme.January 16, 1979link>
At the height of the Iranian Revolution, the shah and his family flee thecountry. Less than a month later, Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iranlink>after14 years in exile. Following the revolution, Iran’s nuclear energyprogramme is temporarily halted.November 4, 1979link>
link>Iranianstudents storm the US embassy in Iran and take diplomats hostage, leadingto a diplomatic breach that continues up to this day. The hostages arereleased 444 days laterlink>onJanuary 21, 1981 at the beginning of US President Ronald Reagan’s term inoffice.September 22, 1980link>
With US backing, Iraqlink> launchesa military attack against Iran, igniting the eight-year Iran-Iraq War,during which Iran will feel an energy crunch. As the war with Iraq rageson, Iran resumes its interest in a national nuclear programme.1991link>
Following the first US-led Gulf War against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Iranbegins to dedicate funds to speed up its research and development ofnuclear power. In 1995, it signs several deals with Russia for thedevelopment of its nuclear programme.December 2002 link>
The administration of US President George W Bush accuses Iran of pursuing asecret nuclear weapons plan. Months earlier, the exiled opposition NationalCouncil of Resistance of Iran will report the existence of a uraniumenrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water plant at Arak.June 19, 2003 link>
An IAEA report on the inspections says that Iran has failed to comply withthe NPT. More than a year later, Iran promises European Union (EU)negotiators that it will suspend all nuclear fuel processing andreprocessing work.June 24, 2005link>
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, mayor of Tehran, is elected president. Months later,the IAEA will report that Iran has resumed uranium conversion at theIsfahan nuclear research facility.January 10, 2006 link>
link>Iran resumes nuclear fuelresearch at the Natanz enrichment plant after breaking the United Nations(UN) seals on the facility, prompting the IAEA to report Iran to the UNSecurity Council.December 23, 2006 link>
The UN Security Council votes for sanctions and gives Iran a 60-daydeadline to suspend enrichment. Iran calls the resolution illegal.March 24, 2007link>
The UN Security Council unanimously approves further financial and weaponssanctions against Iran over its uranium-enrichment activities, which Tehransays are for peaceful purposes.October 24, 2007link>
The US imposes new sanctions on Iran and accuses the elite IslamicRevolutionary Guard Corps of distributing weapons of mass destruction. Amonth later, China, France, Russia, the UK, the US and Germany (P5+1, or”the group of six”) will agree to push ahead with a third round of toughersanctions.December 3, 2007link>
A US National Intelligence Estimate says Iran halted its attempts to builda nuclear bomb in 2003. It also says with “moderate confidence” that theprogramme has not resumed as of mid-2007.June 5, 2009link>
A quarterly IAEA report says Iran now has 7,231 centrifuge enrichmentmachines installed, a 25 percent increase in potential capacity sinceMarch. Two months later, the IAEA will say that Iran has slightly reducedthe scale of its uranium enrichment, while also raising the number ofinstalled centrifuge machines by some 1,000, to 8,308.April 14, 2012link>
The six world powers – P5+1 – and Iran launch a new round of negotiationsin Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul.June 15, 2013 link>
link>Hassan Rouhani, the formerchief nuclear negotiator, is declared the winner of Iran’s presidentialelections.September 27, 2013link>
Rouhani has an historic phone call with US President Barack Obama.November 24, 2013 link>
Secret US-Iran talks are revealedlink>.Iran agrees to curb certain nuclear activities and accept enhanced IAEAmonitoring. In return, minor sanctions are lifted, and Iran is promisedthat no new sanctions will be imposed. The deal is considered temporaryuntil a new, broader agreement is reached.March 3, 2015link>
link>Israel’sPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahulink>launchesa last-ditch effort to stop the Iran nuclear deal by delivering a speechbefore the US Congress.July 14, 2015link>
Iran and the six world powers sign the nuclear deallink>,formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Theaccord ends nearly 12 years of a nuclear standoff between Iran and Westernpowers led by the US. In exchange of Iran giving up its nuclear weaponsprogramme, international sanctions are lifted.August 21, 2015link>
link>EhudBarak, former Israeli prime minister and defence minister, says Netanyahuwanted to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2010 and 2011.January 16, 2016link>
International sanctions against Iran are lifted after the IAEA’s YukiyaAmano says that Tehran has complied with its side of the July 2015agreement.November 9, 2016link>
link>DonaldTrump is elected president of the US. During his campaign, Trump repeatedlyvowed to withdraw from the Iran nuclear pact, calling it the “worst” dealever.May 20, 2017link>
Rouhani is re-elected as president. During his first term, Rouhani vowedthat economic sanctions in Iran will be lifted.October 13, 2017link>
link>Trump”decertifies” the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying Tehran is not living up tothe spirit of the accord.January 12, 2018link>
link>Trumpwaives US sanctions against Iran for the “last time”. He says that if hisdemands to change the deal are not met within 120 days, the US willwithdraw from the deal on May 12.March 5, 2018link>
IAEA’s Yukiya Amano says Iran has continued to implement itsnuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA. It is the 10th IAEA reportlink>certifyingIran’s compliance with the deal.April 30, 2018link>
Netanyahu delivers a speech saying that Iran pursued a “secret nuclearprogramme”, but experts say there was nothing new to what was said.
The EU’s Federica Mogherini and other US allies say that Iran continues toabide by the JCPOA since it was signed in 2015.
Experts also say Netanyahu’s speech proves that inspections are necessary,and that ending the deal can lead to an end of regular inspections.May 8, 2018link>
rump announces that the United States is withdrawing from the Iran nucleardeal, directing his administration to re-impose sanctions.
In response, Rouhani says Tehran will bypass Washington and negotiate withthe other signatories of the deal. – Al Jazeera