Table Of ContentWyn Bowen, Matthew Moran
and Dina Esfandiary
LIVING ON
THE EDGE
Iran and the Practice of Nuclear Hedging
Living on the Edge
Wyn Bowen • M atthew Moran • D ina E sfandiary
Living on the Edge
Iran and the Practice of Nuclear Hedging
Wyn Bowen Matthew Moran
King’s College London King’s College London
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Dina Esfandiary
King’s College London
United Kingdom
ISBN 978-1-137-27308-6 ISBN 978-1-137-27309-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-27309-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936723
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To Emma with love
To Éadaoin with love
To mom, baba and Nilou with gratitude
T I N
IMELINE OF THE RANIAN UCLEAR
C
HALLENGE
Timeline of the Iranian nuclear challenge
2002
29 January P resident George W. Bush refers to Iraq, Iran and North
Korea as the ‘axis of evil’.
14 August A lireza Jafarzadeh of the National Council of Resistance
of Iran (NCRI), an Iranian opposition group, reveals the
existence of two undeclared Iranian nuclear facilities: a
uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy-water
facility at Arak.
1 September Russian technicians begin construction of Iran’s fi rst
nuclear reactor at Bushehr.
2003
22–23 The IAEA Director General, Mohammad ElBaradei,
February visits Iran to hold talks on its nuclear programme.
6 May The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)
describes Iran’s ‘exclusively peaceful’ nuclear programme
to the United Nations (UN).
6 June T he IAEA Director General, Mohammad ElBaradei,
submits a report to the IAEA Board of Governors
stating that Iran has failed to meet its obligations under
its Safeguards Agreement.
vii
viii TIMELINE OF THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR CHALLENGE
Timeline of the Iranian nuclear challenge
26 August I AEA inspectors fi nd traces of highly enriched uranium
(HEU) at Natanz. According to Iran, the HEU came
from contaminated foreign centrifuge components. One
month later, similar traces are found at a second site.
12 September The IAEA Board of Governors adopts a resolution
calling on Iran to ‘provide accelerated cooperation’ with
the Agency and reiterating the call for Iran to suspend
enrichment-related activities.
6 October H assan Rouhani is appointed head of Iran’s nuclear
negotiating team.
21 October I n a deal with France, Great Britain and Germany
(EU3), Iran agrees to sign and ratify an Additional
Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement
with the IAEA, and suspend uranium enrichment and
reprocessing activities.
26 November A n IAEA Board report concludes that there is ‘no
evidence’ of an Iranian nuclear weapons programme.
The report also condemns Iran’s ‘past failures and
breaches of its obligations to comply with the provisions
of its Safeguards Agreement’.
29 November H assan Rouhani announces the ‘voluntary and
temporary’ suspension of Iran’s uranium-enrichment
programme.
18 December I ran signs an Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive
Safeguards Agreement.
2004
7 April I ran declares plans to construct a heavy-water reactor to
produce radioisotopes for medical research.
18 June T he IAEA adopts a resolution condemning Iran’s failure
to cooperate with Agency inspectors.
23 June I ran notifi es the IAEA of its intention to resume
uranium enrichment.
14 November I ran signs the ‘Paris Agreement’ with the EU3. Under
the agreement, Iran agrees to voluntarily and
temporarily suspend uranium enrichment activities and
allow the IAEA to monitor the suspension.
TIMELINE OF THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR CHALLENGE ix
Timeline of the Iranian nuclear challenge
2005
13 January I ran allows IAEA inspectors partial access to the Parchin
military site.
28 February I ran and Russia sign an agreement according to which
Russia commits to supply nuclear fuel for the Bushehr
nuclear power plant and to recover all spent fuel.
8 August I ran begins uranium hexafl uoride production at the
Isfahan facility.
11 August S upreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issues a fatwa
forbidding the ‘production, stockpiling and use of
nuclear weapons’.
24 September The IAEA fi nds Iran in non-compliance with its
Safeguard Agreement. The IAEA refers Iran to the UN
Security Council following its repeated failure to fully
report its nuclear activities.
20 November I ran’s parliament approves a bill to halt voluntary
implementation of the Additional Protocol.
2006
10 January I ran removes IAEA seals at Natanz and resumes research
on nuclear fuel under IAEA supervision.
4 February The Board of Governors passes a resolution requesting
IAEA Director General, Mohammad ElBaradei, to refer
Iran to the UN Security Council.
31 July T he UN Security Council approves Resolution 1969,
calling upon Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment
activities and, ‘without further delay to take the steps
required by the IAEA Board of Governors in its
resolution GOV/2006/14, which are essential to build
confi dence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of its
nuclear programme and to resolve outstanding
questions’.
26 August President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurates a heavy-
water production plant at Arak.
