Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
Paul K. Kerr
Analyst in Nonproliferation
December 29, 2009September 26, 2012
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RL34544
CRS Report for Congress
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
Summary
Iran’s nuclear program began during the 1950s. The United States has expressed concern since
the mid-1970s that Tehran might develop nuclear weapons. Iran’s construction of gas centrifugebased uranium enrichment facilities is currently the main source of proliferation concern. Gas
centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning uranium hexafluoride gas at high speeds to increase the
concentration of the uranium-235 isotope. Such centrifuges can produce both low-enriched
uranium (LEU), which can be used in nuclear power reactors, and weapons-grade highly enriched
uranium (HEU), which is one of the two types of fissile material used in nuclear weapons.
Obtaining fissile material is widely regarded as the most difficult task in building nuclear
weapons. As of May 2012, Iran had produced an amount of LEU containing up to five percent
uranium-235 which, if further enriched, could theoretically produce enough HEU for several
nuclear weapons. Iran has also produced LEU containing up to 20 percent uranium-235, but, as of
May 2012, this amount was not sufficient to yield a sufficient amount of weapons-grade HEU for
a weapon.
Although Iran claims that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, the program
has Although Iran claims that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, it has
generated considerable concern that Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Indeed, the
the UN Security Council has responded to Iran’s refusal to suspend work on its uranium enrichment
and heavy-water nuclear reactor programs
enrichment program by adopting several resolutions whichthat imposed
sanctions on Tehran.
Despite this pressure, Iran continues to Despite
evidence that sanctions and other forms of pressure have slowed the program, Iran continues to
enrich uranium, install additional centrifuges, and conduct
research on new types of centrifuges.
Tehran has also continued work on its heavy-water reactor
and associated facilities.
Whether Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program is, however, unclear. A National Intelligence
Estimate made public in December 2007 assessed that Tehran “halted its nuclear weapons
program,” defined as “Iran’s nuclear weapon design and weaponization work and covert uranium
conversion-related and uranium enrichment-related work,” in 2003. The estimate, however, also
assessed that Tehran is “keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons” and that any
decision to end a nuclear weapons program is “inherently reversible.” Intelligence community
officials have reaffirmed this judgment on several occasions. Iranian efforts to produce fissile
material for nuclear weapons by using its known nuclear facilities would almost certainly be
detected by the IAEA.
Although Iran has cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to an extent,
the agency says that Tehran’s action’s have not been sufficient to alleviate all of the IAEA’s
concerns about Iran’s enrichment and heavy-water reactor programs. The IAEA continues to
investigate the program, particularly evidence that Tehran may have conducted procurement
activities and research directly applicable to nuclear weapons development.
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Contents
Background ................................................................................................................................1
Recent Nuclear Controversy........................................................................................................4
October 2009 Geneva Meeting ..............................................................................................6
Iran’s Cooperation with the IAEA .........................................................................................7
Status of Iran’s Nuclear Programs ............................................................................................. 11
Fuel Manufacturing Plant .................................................................................................... 11
Uranium Enrichment........................................................................................................... 11
Qom Facility................................................................................................................. 15
Possible Future Enrichment Facilities............................................................................ 16
Plutonium ........................................................................................................................... 17
Arak Reactor................................................................................................................. 17
Bushehr Reactor............................................................................................................ 18
Does Iran Have a Nuclear Weapons Program?........................................................................... 19
The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate ............................................................................. 20
Living with Risk ........................................................................................................... 22
Other Constraints on Nuclear Weapons Ambitions............................................................... 23
Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 23a heavy-water reactor, which is a proliferation concern
because its spent fuel will contain plutonium—the other type of fissile material used in nuclear
weapons. However, plutonium must be separated from spent fuel—a procedure called
“reprocessing.” Iran has said that it will not engage in reprocessing.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors Iran’s nuclear facilities and has been
able to verify that Tehran’s declared nuclear facilities and materials have not been diverted for
military purposes. But the agency still has concerns about the program, particularly evidence that
Iran may have conducted procurement activities and research directly applicable to nuclear
weapons development. The United States has assessed that Tehran has the technical capability
eventually to produce nuclear weapons, but has not yet mastered all of the necessary technologies
for building such weapons. Whether Iran has a viable design for a nuclear weapon is unclear.
Whether Iran has a nuclear weapons program is also unclear. A National Intelligence Estimate
made public in December 2007 assessed that Tehran “halted its nuclear weapons program” in
2003. The estimate, however, also assessed that Tehran is “keeping open the option to develop
nuclear weapons” and that any decision to end a nuclear weapons program is “inherently
reversible.” U.S. intelligence officials have reaffirmed this judgment on several occasions. For
example, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated in January 2012 that Iran “is
keeping open the option to develop” nuclear weapons.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stated in January 2012 that Iran would probably need “about a
year” to produce a nuclear weapon and “possibly another one to two years” to incorporate it into
a delivery vehicle. However, Director Clapper indicated in February 2012 that it would likely
take Iran longer than a year to produce a nuclear weapon after making a decision to do so. These
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
estimates apparently assume that Iran would use its declared nuclear facilities to produce fissile
material for a weapon. However, Tehran would probably use covert facilities for this purpose;
Iranian efforts to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons by using its known nuclear
facilities would almost certainly be detected by the IAEA.
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Contents
Background...................................................................................................................................... 1
Current Nuclear Controversy........................................................................................................... 5
Tehran Research Reactor Discussions....................................................................................... 7
Iran’s Cooperation with the IAEA........................................................................................... 10
Possible Military Dimensions ........................................................................................... 10
Other Issues....................................................................................................................... 13
Status of Iran’s Nuclear Facilities.................................................................................................. 15
Uranium Enrichment Facilities................................................................................................ 15
Natanz Commercial Facility.............................................................................................. 16
Natanz Pilot Facility.......................................................................................................... 16
Fordow Enrichment Facility.............................................................................................. 17
Enriched Uranium Containing Up To 20 Percent Uranium-235 ....................................... 19
Possible Future Enrichment Facilities............................................................................... 20
Sustainable Progress ?....................................................................................................... 20
Uranium Conversion ............................................................................................................... 21
Plutonium ................................................................................................................................ 22
Arak Reactor ..................................................................................................................... 22
Bushehr Reactor ................................................................................................................ 23
Fuel Manufacturing Plant ........................................................................................................ 24
Uranium Mines........................................................................................................................ 24
Effects of Sanctions and Sabotage on Iran’s Enrichment Program................................................ 24
Sanctions.................................................................................................................................. 24
Sabotage .................................................................................................................................. 26
Nuclear Weapon Development Capabilities .................................................................................. 26
Timelines ................................................................................................................................. 29
Does Iran Have a Nuclear Weapons Program? .............................................................................. 31
U.S. Government Estimates .................................................................................................... 33
Living with Risk...................................................................................................................... 36
Other Constraints on Nuclear Weapons Ambitions ................................................................. 36
Appendixes
Appendix A. May 2010 Tehran Declaration .................................................................................. 38
Appendix B. Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program........................................ 40
Appendix C. Iranian Centrifuge Workshops and Related Entities................................................. 43
Appendix D. Post-2003 Suppliers to Iran’s Nuclear Program ....................................................... 46
Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 50
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Background
Iran’s nuclear program began during the 1950s. Construction of a U.S.-supplied research reactor
located in Tehran began in 1960; the reactor went critical in 1967.1 During the 1970s, Tehran
pursued an ambitious nuclear power program; according to contemporaneous U.S. documents,
Iran wanted to construct 10-20 nuclear power reactors and produce more than 20,000 megawatts
of nuclear power by 1994.2 Iran actually began constructing a light-water nuclear power reactor
near the city of Bushehr. Tehran and also considered obtaining uranium enrichment and reprocessing
technology.2
Iran also took steps to demonstrate that it was not pursuing nuclear weapons. For example, Tehran
signed the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968 and ratified it in 1970. Iran also
submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly in 1974 that called for establishing a
nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the United States was even then
concerned that Iran could pursue a nuclear weapons program, as evidenced by U.S. intelligence
reports from the mid-1970s.3
Iran cancelled the nuclear program after the 1979 revolution, but “reinstituted” the program in
1982, according to a 1988 CIA report.4 A 1985 National Intelligence Council report, which cited
mid-1970s U.S. intelligence reports
expressed concern that Iran might pursue a nuclear weapons program. 3 Although Iran cancelled
its nuclear program after its 1979 revolution, a 1981 Department of State draft paper argued that
Iran may develop a nuclear weapons program in response to a then-suspected Iraqi nuclear
weapons program, although Iran was not one of several countries of “near to medium term
proliferation concern” to which the paper referred.4
Tehran “reinstituted” its nuclear program in 1982.5 A 1985 National Intelligence Council report,
which cited Iran as a potential “proliferation threat,” stated that Tehran was “interested in
developing facilities
that ... could eventually produce fissile material that could be used in a
[nuclear] weapon.” The
report, however, added that it “would take at least a decade” for Iran to do so.5
The Iranian government says that it plans to expand its reliance on nuclear power in order to
generate electricity. This program will, Tehran says, substitute for some of Iran’s oil and gas
consumption and allow the country to export additional fossil fuels. 6 Currently, a Russian
do so.6 A U.S. intelligence report published ten years later stated that Iran was “aggressively
1
The United States and Iran signed a nuclear cooperation agreement in 1957; it entered into force in 1959. The two
countries negotiated another such agreement during the 1970s, but it was never concluded. For a summary of these
negotiations, see William Burr, “A Brief History of U.S.-Iranian Nuclear Negotiations,” Bulletin of the Atomic
Scientists, January/February 2009.
2
For example, the United States was willing to supply Iran with reprocessing technology, according to 1975 and 1976
National Security Council documents. Tehran also had a 1976 contract for a pilot uranium-enrichment facility using
lasers (see Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions
1737 (2006) and 1747 (2007) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/ 2007/58,
November 15, 2007). Additionally, Iran had
contemplated building its own enrichment facility, according to a 1976
State Department cable (U.S. Embassy Tehran
Airgram A-76 to State Department, “The Atomic Energy Organization
of Iran,” April 15, 1976).
3
Prospects for Further Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Special National Intelligence Estimate, August 23, 1974. A
1975 Department of State memorandum referred to the “uncertainty over” Iran’s “long-term objectives despite its NPT
status.” (“Memorandum for the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs: Department of State Response
to NSSM 219 (Nuclear Cooperation with Iran),” April 18, 1975). A 1988 CIA report (Middle East-South Asia: Nuclear
Handbook) indicated that Iran had conducted nuclear weapons “design work,” before the 1979 revolution.
4
Middle East-South Asia: Nuclear Handbook, Central Intelligence Agency, May 1988.
5
The Dynamics of Nuclear Proliferation: Balance of Power and Constraints, National Intelligence Council, September
1985.
6
Iran’s previous regime also made these arguments for pursuing nuclear power. For example, according to a 1976 State
Department cable, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran cited them as reasons for starting an ambitious
nuclear program. (U.S. Embassy Tehran Airgram A-76 to State Department, “The Atomic Energy Organization of
Iran,” April 15, 1976). Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the International Atomic
Energy Agency, has explained that nuclear power will only meet “perhaps a small portion” of the projected national
electricity demand. “Interview with Iran’s Ambassador to IAEA,” Campaign Against Sanctions and Military
Intervention in Iran, June 29, 2008 (published July 2, 2008). http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/
5439.
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contractor is completing the Bushehr reactor and Iran says it intends to build additional reactors
to generate 20,000 megawatts of power within the next 20 years.7 Iranian officials say that Tehran
has begun design work on its first indigenously produced light-water reactor, which is to be
constructed at Darkhovin. 8 Iran has told the IAEA that construction on the reactor is scheduled to
begin in 2011; it will be commissioned in 2015. However, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy
Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, stated October 4, 2009, that the “assembly of this plant will take
ten years.”9 According to an official associated with the project (plans for which predate the 1979
revolution), Iran anticipates that “foreign experts” will be involved. 10 Indeed, Salehi explained
that other countries “can cooperate in building this plant.”11“Request for Review of Draft Paper on the Security Dimension of Non-Proliferation,” Special Assistant for Nuclear
Proliferation Intelligence, National Foreign Assessment Center, Central Intelligence Agency, to Resource Management
Staff, Office of Program Assessment et al, April 9, 1981. Iraq pursued nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
during the 1980s. The paper argued that Iraq’s nuclear program was “intended to provide the option of developing
nuclear explosives in the future.”
5
Middle East-South Asia: Nuclear Handbook, CIA, May 1988.
6
The Dynamics of Nuclear Proliferation: Balance of Power and Constraints, National Intelligence Council, September
1985.
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pursuing a nuclear weapons capability and, if significant foreign assistance were provided, could
produce a weapon by the end of the decade.”7
The Iranian government says that it plans to expand its reliance on nuclear power in order to
generate electricity. This program will, Tehran says, substitute for some of Iran’s oil and gas
consumption and allow the country to export additional fossil fuels – an argument that the
previous Iranian regime had also made.8 Currently, Iran is beginning to operate the Bushehr
reactor and Iran says it intends to build additional reactors to generate 20,000 megawatts of power
within the next 20 years.9 Iranian officials say that Tehran has begun design work on its first
indigenously-produced light-water reactor, which is to be constructed at Darkhovin.10 Iran told
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2009 that Tehran would begin building the
reactor in 2011 and commission it in 2015.11 However, then-head of Iran’s Atomic Energy
Organization Ali Akbar Salehi stated on October 4, 2009, that the “assembly of this plant will
take ten years.”12 According to a February 2011 report from IAEA Director-General Yukiya
Amano, satellite imagery indicated that “construction activities” had not begun at the planned
reactor site.13 Fereydun Abbasi-Davani, Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said
in April 2012 that Iran would construct the plant without foreign assistance.14
Iranian officials have repeatedly asserted that the country’s nuclear program is exclusively for
peaceful purposes. For example, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i declared during a
June 3, 2008, speech that Iran is opposed to nuclear weapons “based on religious and Islamic
beliefs as well as based on logic and wisdom.” He added, “Nuclear[n]uclear weapons have no benefit but
high costs to manufacture and keep them. Nuclear weapons do not bring power to a nation
because they are not applicable. Nuclear weapons cannot be used.” Similarly, Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Hassan Qashqavi stated November 10, 2008, that “pursuance of nuclear
weapons has no place in the country’s defense doctrine.”1215 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad asserted during an April 9, 2009, speech that “those who accumulate nuclear weapons are
backwards in political terms.”13
However, the United States and other governments have argued that Iran may be pursuing, at a
minimum, the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Discerning a peaceful nuclear program
from a nuclear weapons program can be difficult because of much of the technology’s dual-use
nature. In addition, military nuclear programs may coexist with civilian programs, even without
an explicit decision to produce nuclear weapons. Jose Goldemberg, Brazil’s former secretary of
state for science and technology, observed that a country developing the capability to produce
nuclear fuel
does not have to make an explicit early [political] decision to acquire nuclear weapons. In
some countries, such a path is supported equally by those who genuinely want to explore an
energy alternative and by government officials who either want nuclear weapons or just want
to keep the option open.14
7
7
The Weapons Proliferation Threat, Nonproliferation Center, March 1995.
For example, according to a 1976 State Department cable, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran cited
these arguments as reasons for starting an ambitious nuclear program (U.S. Embassy Tehran Airgram A-76 to State
Department, “The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,” April 15, 1976). Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s
Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, has explained that nuclear power would only
meet “perhaps a small portion” of the projected national electricity demand. “Interview with Iran’s Ambassador to
IAEA,” Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, June 29, 2008 (published July 2, 2008).
9
“Iran to Follow Nuclear Timetable Regardless of IAEA Reports – Official,” Islamic Republic of Iran News Network,
February 25, 2009.
810
“Iran Nuclear Spokesman Interviewed on Situation,” E’temad, November 9, 2008. Iran has stated that construction on
on the 360 MW reactor is to start in 2013. The reactor is to be completed in 2016. See “Foreign Firms Interested to Build
Build Darkhovin Nuclear Plant - Iran Official,” Mehr News Agency, October 19, 2008, and “Bushehr Plant To Be
Inaugurated By Mid October 2008 - Iranian Official,” Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, January 30, 2008.
911
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2009/74, November 16, 2009
12
“Iranian Nuclear Chief Salehi Describes Talks With IAEA Chief ElBaradei,” Tehran Vision of the Islamic Republic of
of Iran Network 1, October 4, 2009.
10
Mehr News Agency, October 19, 2008.
11
Tehran Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1, October 4, 2009.
1213
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/2011/7, February 25, 2011.
14
“Iran Atomic Chief Says Country’s Nuclear Facilities not Affected by Enemies,” Fars News Agency, April 10, 2012.
15
“Weekly Briefing of the Foreign Ministry Spokesman,” November 10, 2008.
13
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, April 9, 2009.
14
Jose Goldemberg, “Looking Back: Lessons From the Denuclearization of Brazil and Argentina,” Arms Control
Today, April 2006.
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Some analysts argue that several past nuclear programs, such as those of France, Sweden, and
Switzerland, illustrate this approach.15
The main source of proliferation concern is Tehran’s construction of a gas-centrifuge-based
uranium-enrichment facility. Iran claims that it wants to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU)
fuel for its planned light-water nuclear reactors. Although Iranian officials have expressed interest
in purchasing nuclear fuel from other countries, they assert that Tehran should have an indigenous
enrichment capability as a hedge against possible fuel supply disruptions.16
Gas centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning uranium hexafluoride gas at high speeds to increase
the concentration of the uranium-235 isotope. Such centrifuges can produce both LEU, which can
be used in nuclear power reactors, and highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is one of the two
types of fissile material used in nuclear weapons. HEU can also be used as fuel in certain types of
nuclear reactors.17 Iran also has a uranium-conversion facility, which converts uranium oxide into
several compounds, including uranium hexafluoride. 18
A heavy-water reactor, which Iran is constructing at Arak, has also been a source of concern.
Although Tehran says that the reactor is intended for the production of medical isotopes, it is a
proliferation concern because its spent fuel will contain plutonium well suited for use in nuclear
weapons. Spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors contains plutonium, the other type of fissile
material used in nuclear weapons. In order to be used in nuclear weapons, however, plutonium
must be separated from the spent fuel—a procedure called “reprocessing.” Iran has said that it
will not engage in reprocessing.
In addition to the dual-use nature of the nuclear programs described above, Tehran’s interactions
with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have contributed to suspicions that Tehran
has a nuclear weapons program.19 In the past, Iran has taken actions that interfered with the
agency’s investigation of its nuclear program, including concealing nuclear activities and
providing misleading statements. Although the IAEA has gotten a more complete picture of Iran’s
nuclear program since its investigation began in 2002, the agency still wants Tehran to provide
more information. Then-IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei explained in a June 2008
interview that
they [the Iranians] have concealed things from us in the past, but that doesn’t prove that they
are building a bomb today. They continue to insist that they are interested solely in using
15
See James Acton, “The Problem with Nuclear Mind Reading,” Survival, February-March 2009, pp. 119-42; Paul M.
Cole, “Atomic Bombast: Nuclear Weapon Decisionmaking in Sweden 1945–1972,” The Henry L. Stimson Center,
1996; “Neutral States: Sweden and Switzerland,” in T.V. Paul , Power Vs. Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear
Weapons (Montreal: McGill University Press), 2000, pp. 84-98; and Bruno Tertrais, “Has Iran Decided to Build the
Bomb? Lessons from the French Experience,” January 30, 2007, available at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/
publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=18993.
16
“Soltaniyeh: Iran Has No Alternative But To Enrich Uranium,” Islamic Republic News Agency, October 2, 2008;
Paul Kerr, “U.S. Offers Iran Direct Talks,” Arms Control Today, June 2006; “Interview with Iran’s Ambassador to
IAEA,” 2008.
17
Highly enriched uranium typically contains over 90% uranium-235, whereas low-enriched uranium used in nuclear
reactors typically contains less than 5% uranium-235.
18
For a detailed description of the nuclear fuel cycle, see CRS Report RL34234, Managing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle:
Policy Implications of Expanding Global Access to Nuclear Power, coordinated by Mary Beth Nikitin.
19
For a detailed description of Iran’s compliance with its international obligations, see CRS Report R40094, Iran’s
Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International Obligations, by Paul K. Kerr.
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nuclear power for civilian purposes. We have yet to find a smoking gun that would prove
them wrong. But there are suspicious circumstances and unsettling questions. The Iranians’
willingness to cooperate leaves a lot to be desired. Iran must do more to provide us with
access to certain individuals and documents. It must make a stronger contribution to
clarifying the last unanswered set of questions—those relating to a possible military
dimension of the Iranian nuclear program.20
The IAEA reiterated September 17, 2009, that it “has no concrete proof that Iran has or has
ever had a nuclear weapons programme.”
Recent Nuclear Controversy
The recent8
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weapons are backwards in political terms.”16 More recently, Khamene’i stated February 22, 2012,
that
Ideologically and religiously speaking, we believe that it is not right [to have nuclear
weapons]. We believe that this move [making nuclear weapons] and the use of such weapons
are a great sin. We also believe that stockpiling such weapons is futile, expensive and
harmful; and we would never seek this.17
Asked in January 2012 if Iran is trying to develop the capability to produce a nuclear weapon,
Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, “[w]e
are not going to develop the capacity to be able to make any weapon of mass destruction.”18
However, the United States and other governments have argued that Iran may be pursuing, at a
minimum, the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Discerning a peaceful nuclear program
from a nuclear weapons program can be difficult because much nuclear technology is dual-use. In
addition, military nuclear programs may coexist with civilian programs, even without an explicit
governmental decision to produce nuclear weapons. Jose Goldemberg, Brazil’s former secretary
of state for science and technology, observed that a country developing the capability to produce
nuclear fuel
does not have to make an explicit early [political] decision to acquire nuclear weapons. In
some countries, such a path is supported equally by those who genuinely want to explore an
energy alternative and by government officials who either want nuclear weapons or just want
to keep the option open.19
Some analysts argue that several past nuclear programs, such as those of France, Sweden, and
Switzerland, illustrate this approach.20 Moreover, a 1975 U.S. intelligence assessment argued that
countries might develop an “unweaponized” nuclear explosive device “to further their political,
and even military, objectives.”21
The main source of proliferation concern is Tehran’s construction of gas-centrifuge-based
uranium-enrichment facilities. Gas centrifuges enrich uranium by spinning uranium hexafluoride
gas at high speeds to increase the concentration of the uranium-235 isotope. Such centrifuges can
produce both low-enriched uranium (LEU), which can be used in nuclear power reactors, and
highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is one of the two types of fissile material used in nuclear
weapons. HEU can also be used as fuel in certain types of nuclear reactors.22 Iran also has a
16
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, April 9, 2009.
“Leader Says West Knows Iran Not Seeking ‘Nuclear Weapons’,” Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1,
February 22, 2012.
18
The Charlie Rose Show, January 18, 2012.
19
Jose Goldemberg, “Looking Back: Lessons From the Denuclearization of Brazil and Argentina,” Arms Control
Today, April 2006.
20
See James Acton, “The Problem with Nuclear Mind Reading,” Survival, February-March 2009, pp. 119-42; Paul M.
Cole, “Atomic Bombast: Nuclear Weapon Decisionmaking in Sweden 1945–1972,” The Henry L. Stimson Center,
1996; “Neutral States: Sweden and Switzerland,” in T.V. Paul , Power Vs. Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear
Weapons (Montreal: McGill University Press), 2000, pp. 84-98; and Bruno Tertrais, “Has Iran Decided to Build the
Bomb? Lessons from the French Experience,” January 30, 2007.
21
Memorandum to Holders, Special National Intelligence Estimate, Prospects for Further Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, SNIE 4-1-74, December 18, 1975. The assessment did not discuss whether Iran was pursuing such an option.
22
Highly enriched uranium used in nuclear weapons typically contains about 90 percent uranium-235, whereas low(continued...)
17
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uranium-conversion facility, which converts uranium oxide into several compounds, including
uranium hexafluoride.23
Iran claims that it wants to produce LEU fuel for its planned light-water nuclear power reactors,
as well as its Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) and other planned future research reactors. The
latter reactors will be used to produce isotopes for medical purposes, according to Tehran.
Although Iranian officials have expressed interest in purchasing nuclear fuel from other countries,
they assert that Tehran should have an indigenous enrichment capability as a hedge against
possible fuel supply disruptions.24 It is worth noting that an Iranian naval commander’s June 12,
2012, announcement that Iran “has taken initial steps to design and build power and engine
systems for nuclear submarines,” may provide Tehran with a rationale for enriching uranium to
levels suitable for use as fissile material in nuclear weapons, although the commander did not
mention enrichment.25 Notably, Abbasi stated the next month that, despite Iran’s “capability to
design nuclear fuel for ships and submarines,” the country does not plan to produce enriched
uranium containing more than 20 percent uranium-235.26
A heavy-water reactor, which Iran is constructing at Arak, has also been a source of concern.
Although Tehran says that the reactor is intended for the production of radioisotopes for medical
purposes, it is a proliferation concern because its spent fuel will contain plutonium well-suited for
use in nuclear weapons. Spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors contains plutonium, the other
type of fissile material used in nuclear weapons. In order to be used in nuclear weapons, however,
plutonium must be separated from the spent fuel—a procedure called “reprocessing.” Iran has
said that it will not engage in reprocessing. This reactor is designed to use natural uranium fuel,
which does not require enrichment.
In addition to the dual-use nature of the nuclear programs described above, Iran’s inconsistent
cooperation with the IAEA has contributed to suspicions that Tehran has a nuclear weapons
program.27 In the past, Iran has taken actions that interfered with the agency’s investigation of its
nuclear program, including concealing nuclear activities and providing misleading statements.
Although the IAEA has a more complete picture of Iran’s nuclear program since its investigation
began in 2002, the agency still wants Tehran to provide more information. Then-IAEA DirectorGeneral Mohamed ElBaradei explained in a June 2008 interview that
they [the Iranians] have concealed things from us in the past, but that doesn’t prove that they
are building a bomb today. They continue to insist that they are interested solely in using
nuclear power for civilian purposes. We have yet to find a smoking gun that would prove
them wrong. But there are suspicious circumstances and unsettling questions. The Iranians’
(...continued)
enriched uranium used in nuclear reactors typically contains less than five percent uranium-235.
23
For a detailed description of the nuclear fuel cycle, see CRS Report RL34234, Managing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle:
Policy Implications of Expanding Global Access to Nuclear Power, coordinated by Mary Beth Nikitin.
24
“Soltaniyeh: Iran Has No Alternative But To Enrich Uranium,” Islamic Republic News Agency, October 2, 2008;
Paul Kerr, “U.S. Offers Iran Direct Talks,” Arms Control Today, June 2006; “Interview with Iran’s Ambassador to
IAEA,” 2008.
25
“Iran to Make Engine Systems For Nuclear Submarines,” Fars News Agency, June 12, 2012; “Iran Plans NuclearPowered Submarine: Report,” Reuters, June 12, 2012. Some naval propulsion reactors use weapons-grade HEU.
26
“Official Underscores Iran’s Ability To Produce N. Fuel For Trade Vessels,” Fars News Agency, July 23, 2012.
27
For a detailed description of Iran’s compliance with its international obligations, see CRS Report R40094, Iran’s
Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International Obligations, by Paul K. Kerr.
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willingness to cooperate leaves a lot to be desired. Iran must do more to provide us with
access to certain individuals and documents. It must make a stronger contribution to
clarifying the last unanswered set of questions—those relating to a possible military
dimension of the Iranian nuclear program.28
Consistent with ElBaradei’s statement, IAEA Director-General Amano explained in a June 2012
interview that the IAEA has not claimed that “Iran [has] made a decision to obtain nuclear
weapons.”29
Current Nuclear Controversy
The current public controversy over Iran’s nuclear program began in August 2002, when the
National Council of Resistance on Iran (NCRI), an Iranian exile group, revealed information
during a press conference (some of which later proved to be accurate) that Iran had built nuclearrelated facilities at Natanz and Arak that it had not revealed to the IAEA. The United States had
been aware of at least some of these activities, according to knowledgeable former officials.2130
During the mid-1990s, Israel’s intelligence services detected Iranian “efforts to develop a military
nuclear industry,” according to a 2004 Israeli Knesset committee report.31
States-parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) are obligated to conclude a
comprehensive safeguards
agreement with the IAEA. In the case of non-nuclear-weapon states-partiesstatesparties to the treaty (of which
Iran is one), such agreements allow the agency to monitor nuclear
facilities and materials to
ensure that they are not diverted for military purposes. However, the agency’s inspections and
monitoring authority is limited to facilities that have been declared by the states-parties. 22
Additional protocols to IAEA safeguards As a practical
matter, however, the IAEA’s ability to inspect and monitor nuclear facilities, as well as obtain
relevant information, pursuant to a comprehensive safeguards agreements is limited to facilities
that have been declared by the government.32 Additional Protocols to IAEA safeguards
agreements augment the agency’s ability to investigate
clandestine nuclear facilities and activities
by increasing the agency’s authority to inspect certain
facilities and demand additional
information from states-parties. 2333 The IAEA’s statute requires the
agency’s Board of Governors to
refer cases of non-compliance with safeguards agreements to the
UN Security Council. Prior to
the NCRI’s revelations, the IAEA had expressed concerns that Iran
had not been providing the
agency with all relevant information about its nuclear programs, but
had never found Iran in
violation of its safeguards agreement.
In fall 2002, the IAEA began to investigate Iran’s nuclear activities at Natanz and Arak, and;
inspectors visited the sites the following February. The IAEA board adopted its first resolution,
which called on Tehran to increase its cooperation with the agency’s investigation and to suspend
its uranium enrichment activities, in September 2003. The next month, Iran concluded an
agreement with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, collectively known as the “E3,” to
suspend its enrichment activities, sign and implement an additional protocol to its 1974 IAEA
safeguards agreement, and comply fully with the IAEA’s investigation.24 As a result, the IAEA
board decided to refrain from referring the matter to the UN Security Council.
20
“Interview With IAEA Boss Mohamed ElBaradei,” Der Spiegel, June 11, 2008.28
“Interview With IAEA Boss Mohamed ElBaradei,” Der Spiegel, June 11, 2008.
Jay Solomon and David Crawford, “An Interview With IAEA’s Yukiya Amano,” Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2012.
30
Gary Samore, Former Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls on the National Security Council,
personal communication June 5, 2008; Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet, “DCI Remarks on Iraq’s
WMD Programs,” February 5, 2004, available at https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2004/
tenet_georgetownspeech_02052004.html.
22.
31
Report – Volume 1 (Unrestricted section), The Committee of Enquiry into the Intelligence System in Light of the
War in Iraq, The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, March 2004.
32
The IAEA does have other investigative tools, such as monitoring scientific publications from member-states.
21
2333
NPT states are not required to conclude additional protocolsAdditional Protocols. However, applicable UN Security Council resolutions
require Iran to conclude such a protocol.
24
The text of the agreement is available at http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIran/
(continued...)29
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
Ultimately, theits uranium enrichment activities, in September 2003. The next month, Iran concluded an
agreement with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, collectively known as the “E3,” to
suspend its enrichment activities, sign and implement an Additional Protocol to its IAEA
safeguards agreement, which Tehran concluded in 1974, and comply fully with the IAEA’s
investigation.34 As a result, the IAEA board decided to refrain from referring the matter to the UN
Security Council.
The IAEA’s investigation, as well as information Tehran provided after the October
2003 2003
agreement, ultimately revealed that Iran had engaged in a variety of clandestine nuclear-related
activities, some of which violated Iran’s safeguards agreement. These included plutonium
separation experiments, uranium enrichment and conversion experiments, and importing various
uranium compounds.
After October 2003, Iran continued some of its enrichment-related activities, but Tehran and the
E3 agreed in November 2004 to a more detailed suspension agreement. However, Iran resumed
uranium conversion in August 2005 under the leadership of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
who had
been elected two months earlier. Iran announced in January 2006 that it would resume
research research
and development on its centrifuges at Natanz. In response, the IAEA board adopted a
resolution resolution
on February 4, 2006, that referred the matter to the Security Council. Two days later,
Tehran Tehran
announced that it would stop implementing its additional protocolAdditional Protocol.
In June 2006, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States,
collectively known as the “P5+1,” presented a proposal to Iran that offered a variety of incentives
in return for Tehran taking several steps to assuage international concerns about its enrichment
and heavy-water programs.2535 The proposal called on the government to address the IAEA’s
“outstanding concerns ... through full cooperation” with the agency’s ongoing investigation of
Tehran’s nuclear programs, “suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities,” and
resume implementing its additional protocol.
Additional Protocol.
Then-European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
Solana presented a revised version of the 2006 offer to Iran in June 2008.2636 Representatives from the
the P5+1 discussed the new proposal with Iranian officials in July 2008the next month. Iran provided a
follow-up
response the next monthin August 2008, but the six countries deemed it unsatisfactory.2737 Tehran has
told the
IAEA that it would implement its additional protocolAdditional Protocol “if the nuclear file is returned from the
the Security Council” to the agency. 2838 It is, however, unclear how the council could meet this
condition. Iran’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters October 7,
2009, that Iran is not discussing ratification of the Protocol.29
The 2006 offer’s requirements have also been included in several UN Security Council
resolutions, the most recent of which, Resolution 1835, was adopted September 27, 2008.30
(...continued)34
The text of the agreement is available at http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIran/
statement_iran21102003.shtml. Iran signed its additional protocolAdditional Protocol in December 2003, but has not ratified it.
2535
The proposal text is available at http://armscontrol.org/pdf/20060606_Iran_P5+1_Proposal.pdf. Prior to late May
2006, the United States refused to participate in direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program. In March 2005,
Washington had offered some limited incentives for Iran to cooperate with the E3. (See Kerr, Arms Control Today,
June 2006). For more information about the state of international diplomacy with Iran, see CRS Report RL32048, Iran:
U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, by Kenneth Katzman.
2636
The revised proposal text is available at http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Aussenpolitik/Themen/
Abruestung/IranNukes/Angebot-e33-080614.pdf.
2737
Iran had also presented a proposal to the P5+1 in May 2008. See Peter Crail, “Proposals Offered on Iranian Nuclear
Program,” Arms Control Today, May 2008. The proposal text is available at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/
Documents/Infcircs/2008/infcirc729.pdf.
2838
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/2008/4,
February 22, 2008.
29
“Iranian FM: No Discussions on Joining Additional Protocol,” Fars News Agency, October 7, 2009.
30
The resolution text is available at http://un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9459.doc.htm. The resolutions also require
(continued...)
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
However, a November 2009 report from ElBaradei to the Security Council and the IAEA board
indicated that Tehran has continued to defy the council’s demands by continuing work on both its
uranium enrichment program and heavy-water reactor program. 31 Iranian officials maintain that
Iran will not suspend its enrichment program.
Iran issued another proposal in early September 2009, which described a number of economic
and security issues as potential topics for discussion, but only obliquely mentioned nuclear issues
and did not explicitly mention Iran’s nuclear program. 32
October 2009 Geneva Meeting33
After an October 1 meeting in Geneva with the P5+1 and Solana, Iranian officials repeatedly
stated that Tehran would like future discussions about its September proposal. Nevertheless,
during that meeting, Iranian officials agreed in principle to a proposal that would provide fuel
enriched to 19.75% uranium-235 for Iran’s U.S.-supplied Tehran Research Reactor, which
produces medical isotopes and operates under IAEA safeguards. Iran asked the agency in June to
provide a new supply of fuel for the reactor, which will run out of fuel in approximately 18
months. Subsequently, the United States and Russia presented a proposal to the IAEA (which the
agency conveyed to Iran) for providing fuel for the reactor. Iranian officials have stated that,
absent an agreement with international suppliers, Iran will produce its own fuel for the reactor.
According to the proposal, Iran would transfer approximately 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched
uranium hexafluoride to Russia, which would either enrich the uranium to 19.75% uranium-235
or produce the LEU from Russian-origin uranium. Russia would then transfer the low-enriched
uranium hexafluoride to France for fabrication into fuel assemblies. Finally, France would
transfer the assemblies to Russia for shipment to Iran. Iran had, as of October 30, 2009, produced
1,763 kilograms of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride containing less than 5% uranium-235.34
Beginning October 19, 2009, Iranian officials met with officials from the IAEA, France, Russia,
and the United States to discuss details of implementing the proposal, such as the fuel price,
contract elements, and a timetable for shipping the fuel. ElBaradei announced October 21 the
conclusion of a “draft agreement,” which was drafted by the IAEA. Moscow, Paris, and
Washington have all stated their support for the agreement. ElBaradei announced October 29 that
he had received “an initial response” from Iran. However, Tehran has yet to give an official reply.
Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the IAEA, indicated during
(...continued)
Iran to suspend work on its heavy water-related projects.
31
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2009/74, November 16, 2009.
32
The proposal text may be found at http://documents.propublica.org/iran-nuclear-program-proposal#p=1.
33
Unless otherwise noted, this section is based on an October 1, 2009, background briefing by senior U.S. officials;
ElBaradei’s remarks during an October 4, 2009 press conference; an October 13 French Foreign Ministry briefing; an
analyst interview with a U.S. official; Mark Hibbs, “Six Nations Might Place Conditions on Reactor Fuel Supply to
Iran,” Nuclear Fuel, October 5, 2009; “Iran to Provide 20 % Fuel if Probable Deal with West Fails: AEOI,” Iranian
Students News Agency, October 10, 2009; and “Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman’s Weekly News Conference,”
Iranian News Network Channel, October 12, 2009.
34
GOV/2009/74.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
several interviews November 2 that Iran wants to discuss details of the agreement. 35 Tehran has
agreed to “accept the essential elements” of the fuel supply proposal “but has also sought
modifications to the formula,” according to a November 10 Iranian television report.36 However,
Foreign Minster Mottaki stated November 18 that Iran would not agree to ship its LEU to another
country for further enrichment.37
More recently, Iranian officials have suggested that Tehran would accept a compromise in which
it would ship the LEU out of the country in phases. These officials have suggested that the LEU
would be simultaneously exchanged for fuel on an Iranian island or in a third country, such as
Turkey.38 In any case, Tehran has not yet given an official response to the P5+1, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said December 28.39 Iranian officials have stated that, in the event that it
cannot obtain reactor fuel from abroad, Iran will produce the fuel on its own. 40
The P5+1 planned to hold another meeting with Iran before the end of October, but no such
meeting has taken place. Following a November 20 meeting, those countries issued a joint
statement expressing disappointment with Tehran’s failure to agree to another meeting or respond
positively to the Tehran Research Reactor proposal. “We have agreed to remain in contact and
expect a further meeting soon to complete our assessment of the situation and to decide on our
next steps,” the statement said. Since then, the P5+1 have indicated that they may impose
additional sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council. White House Press Secretary
Robert Gibbs stated December 22 that “preparations have begun” for additional Security Council
action.
Iran’s Cooperation with the IAEA
Iran and the IAEA agreed in August 2007 on a work plan to clarify the outstanding questions
regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. 41 Most of these issues, 42 which had contributed to suspicions
that Iran had been pursuing a nuclear weapons program, have essentially been resolved, but
ElBaradei told the IAEA board June 2, 2008, that there is “one remaining major [unresolved]
issue,” which concerns questions regarding “possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear
programme.” Iran maintains that it has not conducted any work on nuclear weapons.
Iran and the IAEA have had a series of discussions regarding these issues; based on recent reports
from ElBaradei, the last meeting was held August 18-20, 2008. The agency has provided Iran
35
Sylvia Westall, “Iran Wants New Nuclear Fuel Talks, Deepening Doubts,” Reuters, November 2, 2009; “Iran to Seek
Fuel Supply Guarantees in Next Round of Talks,” Press TV, November 2, 2009; “Iran Ready for New Nuclear Talks
‘as Soon as Possible’: Envoy,” Agence France Presse, November 2, 2009; “Iranian Representative to IAEA Rejects
Miliband’s Remarks on Nuclear Deal,” Al-Alam, November 2, 2009.
36
“Nuclear Negotiator Says Iran’s Rights to be Defended,” Press TV, November 10, 2009.
37
“Iran not to Send Out Enriched Uranium for Swap: FM,” Iranian Students News Agency, November 18, 2009.
38
“Iran Says It Would Swap Nuclear Material With West in Turkey,” The Associated Press, December 26, 2009;
“Mottaki: Iran Ready for Simultaneous N. Fuel Swap,” Fars News Agency, December 26, 2009.
39
“Iran Taking Its Time to Respond to U.S. Talks Offer – Lavrov, “ Interfax, December 28, 2009.
40
“Spokesman: Iran Waiting for 5+1 Response to N. Fuel Swap, “ Fars News Agency, December 24, 2009.
41
The text of the work plan is available at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/2007/infcirc711.pdf.
42
These issues included plutonium experiments, research and procurement efforts associated with two types of
centrifuges, operations of a uranium mine, and experiments with polonium-210, which (in conjunction with beryllium)
is used as a neutron initiator in certain types of nuclear weapons.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
with documents or (in some cases) descriptions of documents, which themselves were provided to
the IAEA by several governments, indicating that Iranian entities may have conducted studies
related to nuclear weapons development. The subjects of these studies included missile reentry
vehicles for delivering nuclear warheads, uranium conversion, and conventional explosives used
in nuclear weapons.43 Iranian officials have claimed that the documents are not authentic,44 but
ElBaradei told the IAEA Board of Governors June 17, 2009, that, nevertheless, “there is enough
in these alleged studies to create concern in the minds of our professional inspectors.” ElBaradei
reported in May 2008 that Iranian officials have acknowledged the accuracy of some of the
information in the documents, but the activities described were, the Iranians said, exclusively for
non-nuclear purposes. Tehran has provided some relevant information about these matters to the
IAEA, but ElBaradei reported in August 2009 that the government still should “provide more
substantive responses” to the IAEA, as well as “the opportunity to have detailed discussions with
a view to moving forward on these issues, including granting the Agency access to persons,
information and locations identified in the documents.”45
The IAEA has asked Tehran about other information suggesting that the country may have
pursued nuclear weapons, such as
•
“information about a high level meeting in 1984 on reviving Iran’s pre-revolution
nuclear programme”;
•
“the scope of a visit by officials” associated with Iran’s Atomic Energy
Organization “to a nuclear installation in Pakistan in 1987”;
•
information on 1993 meetings between Iranian officials and members of a
clandestine procurement network run by former Pakistani nuclear official Abdul
Qadeer Khan; and
•
information about work done in 2000 which apparently related to reprocessing. 46
43
For more information about Iran’s ballistic missile program, see CRS Report RS22758, Iran’s Ballistic Missile
Programs: An Overview, by Steven A. Hildreth.
44
In a September 28, 2008
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
condition. Iran’s then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters October 7,
2009, that Iran is not discussing ratification of the protocol.39 Asked in a June 2012 interview
whether Tehran would ratify the protocol, Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s Permanent
Representative to the IAEA, explained that “any possibility for re-adopting the Additional
Protocol depends on the resolution of the [nuclear] issues with respect to the UN Security
Council.”40
The 2006 offer’s requirements are also included in several UN Security Council resolutions, the
most recent of which, Resolution 1929, was adopted June 9, 2010.41 However, a May 2012 report
from IAEA Director-General Amano to the Security Council and the IAEA board indicated that
Tehran has continued to defy the council’s demands by continuing work on both its uranium
enrichment program and heavy-water reactor program.42 Iranian officials maintain that Iran will
not suspend its enrichment program.
Iran issued another proposal in early September 2009 which described a number of economic and
security issues as potential topics for discussion but only obliquely mentioned nuclear issues and
did not explicitly mention Iran’s nuclear program.43
Tehran Research Reactor Discussions44
After an October 1, 2009, meeting in Geneva with the P5+1 and High Representative Solana,
Iranian officials repeatedly stated that Tehran would like future discussions about its September
2009 proposal. Nevertheless, during that meeting, Iranian officials agreed in principle to a
proposal that would provide fuel enriched to about 20 percent uranium-235 for Iran’s U.S.supplied Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), which produces medical isotopes and operates under
IAEA safeguards. Iran asked the IAEA in a June 2, 2009, letter to provide fresh fuel for its U.Ssupplied TRR. Initially fueled by U.S.-supplied HEU, the reactor was converted to use LEU fuel
in 1994 after Argentina agreed to supply the reactor with such fuel in 1987.45 The reactor is
currently running on the Argentinean-supplied fuel, which contains about 20 percent uranium235. Subsequent to Iran’s June 2009 request, the United States and Russia presented a proposal to
the IAEA (which the agency conveyed to Iran) for providing fuel for the reactor.
According to the proposal, Iran would have transferred approximately 1,200 kilograms of its lowenriched uranium hexafluoride to Russia, which would have either enriched the uranium to about
20 percent uranium-235 or produced the LEU from Russian-origin uranium. Russia would then
39
“Iranian FM: No Discussions on Joining Additional Protocol,” Fars News Agency, October 7, 2009.
“Envoy: Robust Inspections Confirm Non-Diversion of Iran’s N. Program,” FARS News Agency, June 9, 2012.
41
The resolution text is available at http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/iaeairan/unsc_res1929-2010.pdf. The
resolutions also require Iran to suspend work on its heavy water-related projects.
42
GOV/2009/74.
43
The proposal text may be found at http://documents.propublica.org/iran-nuclear-program-proposal#p=1.
44
Unless otherwise noted, this section is based on an October 1, 2009, background briefing by senior U.S. officials;
ElBaradei’s remarks during an October 4, 2009 press conference; an October 13, 2009, French Foreign Ministry
briefing; an analyst interview with a U.S. official; Mark Hibbs, “Six Nations Might Place Conditions on Reactor Fuel
Supply to Iran,” Nuclear Fuel, October 5, 2009; “Iran to Provide 20 % Fuel if Probable Deal with West Fails: AEOI,”
Iranian Students News Agency, October 10, 2009; and “Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman’s Weekly News
Conference,” Iranian News Network Channel, October 12, 2009.
45
This information is contained in a February 18, 2010, letter from Iran to the IAEA (GOV/INF/2010/5).
40
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
have transferred the low-enriched uranium hexafluoride to France for fabrication into fuel
assemblies. Finally, France would have transferred the assemblies to Russia for shipment to Iran.
France would have delivered the fuel within about one year.46 Iran had, as of October 30, 2009,
produced 1,763 kilograms of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride containing less than five percent
uranium-235.47
Beginning October 19, 2009, Iranian officials met with officials from the IAEA, France, Russia,
and the United States to discuss details of implementing the proposal, such as the fuel price,
contract elements, and a timetable for shipping the fuel. Two days later, then-IAEA DirectorGeneral ElBaradei announced the conclusion of a “draft agreement,” which was drafted by the
IAEA. Although Iran, France, Russia, and the United States held further discussions regarding the
proposal’s implementation, they did not reach an agreement with Tehran. Iran resisted
transferring all 1,200 kilograms of LEU out of the country before receiving the reactor fuel,
arguing that the proposal needed more credible assurances that the fuel would actually be
delivered. During the last few months of 2009, Iranian officials did suggest different
compromises, such as shipping its LEU out of the country in phases or simultaneously
exchanging its LEU for the TRR fuel on an Iranian island or in a third country, but these
proposals were not accepted by the United States, France, and Russia.48
Further details about the French, Russian, and U.S proposals later became public.49 For example,
the IAEA had agreed to take formal custody of any Iranian LEU transferred pursuant to a TRR
agreement. Additionally, France, Russia, and the United States agreed to a “legally binding
Project and Supply Agreement;” to “support technical assistance through the IAEA to ensure”
that the TRR would operate safely; and expressed support for allowing Iran to transfer its LEU to
a third country, which would hold the LEU in escrow until the TRR fuel was fabricated. The
United States also offered “substantial political assurances that the agreement would be fulfilled.”
An April 20, 2010, letter from President Obama to President Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula
da Silva stated that the United States had expressed its willingness to “potentially even play a
more direct role in the fuel production process,” but did not elaborate.
Notably, the October 2009 IAEA draft did not include an explicit prohibition on Iranian
production of uranium enriched to about 20 percent uranium-235. Instead, the agreement’s
proponents thought that the supply of fuel for the TRR would obviate the need for Tehran to
produce the fuel on its own. 50 The escrow proposal described in the previous paragraph was not
contained in the October 2009 IAEA draft.51 Whether the other provisions described above were
explicitly contained in that draft is unclear because there is no public official copy of it.
Following a November 20, 2009, meeting, the P5+1 issued a joint statement expressing
disappointment with Tehran’s failure to respond positively to the TRR proposal. “We have agreed
46
These details appeared in a June 2010 letter from France, Russia, and the United States to the IAEA. The text appears
in “Text: Powers Dismiss Iran Fuel Offer Before U.N. Vote,” Reuters, June 9, 2010.
47
GOV/2009/74.
48
See, for example, “Iran Says It Would Swap Nuclear Material With West in Turkey,” The Associated Press,
December 26, 2009; “Mottaki: Iran Ready for Simultaneous N. Fuel Swap,” Fars News Agency, December 26, 2009.
49
These details are contained in an official February 12, 2010, letter from those three governments to IAEA DirectorGeneral Amano.
50
Ibid.
51
Analyst interview with knowledgeable U.S. official, June 16, 2010.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
to remain in contact and expect a further meeting soon to complete our assessment of the situation
and to decide on our next steps,” the statement said. Although some subsequent Iranian
statements suggested that Iran was still open to some version of the IAEA proposal,52 Tehran
never officially accepted it. Iranian officials have stated that Iran is willing to purchase the fuel,
but have also said that, absent an agreement with international suppliers, Tehran will produce its
own TRR fuel .53 Although, as discussed below, Iran has manufactured fuel for the reactor,
whether Iran can produce sufficient amounts of fuel of acceptable quality is unclear.54
Following a May 17, 2010, meeting of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Brazilian President Lula, Iran did accept a proposal, known as the
Tehran Declaration, for supplying the TRR with fuel.55 Iran conveyed its acceptance of the
declaration in a May 24, 2010, letter to the IAEA. The Tehran Declaration contained some of the
same elements as the October 2009 IAEA draft proposal and other elements described in a
February 12, 2010, letter to the IAEA. For example, the declaration stated that Iran would be
willing to “deposit” 1,200 kilograms of LEU in Turkey. Iran would deposit the fuel, which would
be subject to IAEA monitoring in Turkey, “not later than one month” after reaching an agreement
regarding the details of the exchange with France, Russia, the United States, and the IAEA.
However, unlike the IAEA draft proposal, the declaration did not mention an ultimate destination
for the LEU to be deposited in Turkey. As noted, Tehran had resisted transferring all 1,200
kilograms of LEU out of the country before receiving fuel for the TRR.
IAEA Director-General Amano told the agency’s Board of Governors June 7, 2010, that he had
“immediately conveyed Iran’s letter” to France, Russia, and the United States “and asked for their
views.” Those three governments responded to the IAEA two days later with letters and a joint
paper titled “Concerns about the Joint Declaration Conveyed by Iran to the IAEA.”56 The paper
conveyed several reservations about the Tehran Declaration, but did not reject it outright. For a
discussion about the declaration and the French, Russian, and U.S. paper, see Appendix A.
Iran and the P5+1 met in December 2010 and January 2011, but the two meetings, held in Geneva
and Istanbul, respectively, produced no results. In April 2012, the two sides resumed talks in
Istanbul. Since then, Iran and the P5+1 have held two rounds of talks – a May meeting in
Baghdad and a June meeting in Moscow. Additionally, the two sides held expert-level discussions
in Istanbul on July 3 and Iranian Supreme National Security Council Undersecretary Ali Baqeri
and Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid met in
Istanbul on July 24.
Following the April 2012 talks, the P5+1 stated that the process of inducing Iranian compliance
with “all its international obligations” would be “guided by the principle of the step-by-step
approach and reciprocity.”57 The P5+1 presented their proposal the next month during the
52
See, for example, Iran’s February 18, 2010 letter to the IAEA.
“Spokesman: Iran Waiting for 5+1 Response to N. Fuel Swap,” Fars News Agency, December 24, 2009.
54
David Albright and Jacqueline Shire, Iran’s Recent Statements about Production of Fuel for the Tehran Research
Reactor: A Quick Review, Institute for Science and International Security, February 8, 2010.
55
The text is available at http://www.brasil.gov.br/news/history/2010/05/17/joint-declaration-by-iran-turkey-andbrazil?set_language=en.
56
The text appears in “Text: Powers Dismiss Iran Fuel Offer Before U.N. Vote,” Reuters, June 9, 2010.
57
This paragraph is based on the following sources: Kelsey Davenport, “Iran, P5+1 Move to Technical Talks,” Arms
Control Today, July/August 2012; Kelsey Davenport, “P5+1 and Iran Claim Progress in Talks,” Arms Control Today,
June 2012; Kelsey Davenport, History of Official Proposals on the Iranian Nuclear Issue, Arms Control Association,
(continued...)
53
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Baghdad meeting. The six governments demanded that Tehran: end its production of enriched
uranium containing approximately 20 percent uranium-235; ship to a third country Iran’s
stockpile of uranium enriched to this level (this uranium would be under IAEA monitoring); halt
enriching uranium, as well as installing centrifuges and centrifuge components, at the Fordow
facility; and cooperate fully with the IAEA’s investigation. Ashton stated on May 24, 2012, that
the P5+1 “put ideas on the table on reciprocal steps we would be prepared to take.” These
included
•
refraining from imposing new sanctions on Iran;
•
facilitating Iranian access to spare aircraft parts, as well as safety and repair
inspections;
•
providing fuel for the TRR;
•
supporting IAEA technical cooperation regarding the TRR’s safety;
•
providing medical isotopes to Tehran;
•
potentially reviewing suspended IAEA technical cooperation projects with Iran58;
and
•
cooperating on Tehran’s acquisition of a light-water reactor for producing
radioisotopes.
Iran’s Cooperation with the IAEA
Possible Military Dimensions
Iran and the IAEA agreed in August 2007 on a work plan to clarify the outstanding questions
regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.59 Most of these issues,60 which had contributed to suspicions
that Iran had been pursuing a nuclear weapons program, have essentially been resolved, but thenIAEA Director-General ElBaradei told the IAEA Board of Governors June 2, 2008, that there is
“one remaining major [unresolved] issue,” which concerns questions regarding “possible military
dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme.”
Iran and the IAEA have had a series of discussions regarding these issues. The agency has
provided Iran with documents or, in some cases, descriptions of documents which had been
(...continued)
August 2012; The P5+1, Iran and the Perils of Nuclear Brinkmanship, International Crisis Group Middle East
Briefing, June 15, 2012; “Text of statement by EU’s Ashton After Iran Talks,” Reuters, May 24, 2012; Jay Solomon,
“Iran, U.S. Agree Only to Resume Their Talks Next Month,” Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2012; Paul Richter, “Iran,
World Powers Clash At Latest Talks; Tehran Says The Six Nations Haven't Given It A ‘Balanced’ Offer On Its Nuclear
Program,” Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2012; “Full Text of Iran’s Proposals to Six World Powers in Moscow Talks,”
Fars News Agency, July 7, 2012.
58
These are apparently the same technical cooperation projects which the IAEA Board of Governors suspended in
2007.
59
The text of the work plan is available at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/2007/infcirc711.pdf.
60
These issues included plutonium experiments, research and procurement efforts associated with two types of
centrifuges, operations of a uranium mine, and experiments with polonium-210, which (in conjunction with beryllium)
is used as a neutron initiator in certain types of nuclear weapons.
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provided to the IAEA by several governments. The documents indicated that Iranian entities may
have conducted studies related to nuclear weapons development. The subjects of these studies
included uranium conversion, missile reentry vehicles for delivering nuclear warheads, and
conventional explosives used in nuclear weapons. Iranian officials have claimed that the
documents are not authentic,61 but ElBaradei told the IAEA board on June 17, 2009, that “there is
enough in these alleged studies to create concern in the minds of our professional inspectors.”
Iranian officials have acknowledged that some of the information in the documents is accurate,
but argued that the activities described were exclusively for non-nuclear purposes, ElBaradei
reported in May 2008.62 Tehran has provided some relevant information about these matters to the
IAEA, but ElBaradei reported in August 2009 that the government should “provide more
substantive responses” to the IAEA, as well as “the opportunity to have detailed discussions with
a view to moving forward on these issues, including granting the agency access to persons,
information and locations identified in the documents.”63
More recently, IAEA Director-General Amano issued a report to the IAEA board in November
2011 which stated that “Iran has not engaged with the agency in any substantive way” on the
alleged studies since August 2008.64 During a February 20-21, 2012, meeting between IAEA and
Iranian officials, Iran provided “an initial declaration” regarding the possible nuclear weapons
activities discussed in the November 2011 report. This declaration “dismissed the Agency’s
concerns in relation to the aforementioned issues, largely on the grounds that Iran considered
them to be based on unfounded allegations,” Amano reported.65
Amano’s November 2011 report provided the most detailed account to date of the IAEA’s
evidence regarding Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons-related activities. According to the report,
the agency has “credible” information that Iran has carried out activities “relevant to the
development of a nuclear explosive device.” These include acquisition of “nuclear weapons
development information and documentation,” work to develop “an indigenous design of a
nuclear weapon including the testing of components,” efforts “to procure nuclear related and dual
use equipment and materials by military related individuals and entities,” and work to “develop
undeclared pathways for the production of nuclear material.” Although some of these activities
61
In a September 28, 2008, letter to the IAEA, Iran described some characteristics of the documents discussed above.
The letter stated that some of the information from the United States was shown to Iranian officials as PowerPoint
presentations. Additionally, some of the documents are “in contradiction with typical standard Iranian documentation”
and lack “classification seals,” the letter said. See, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Explanatory
Comments by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Report of the IAEA Director General to the September 2008 Board of
Governors (GOV/2008/38), September 28, 2008. INFCIRC/737. Iran has complained that the IAEA has not provided
Tehran with original versions of some documentation related to the alleged “military dimensions” of Iran’s nuclear
program. Several reports from ElBaradei have stated that the agency has not had permission to provide this
documentation from the governments which provided it. In his November 2009 report, ElBaradei again called on such
governments to authorize the IAEA to share additional information with Iran.
4562
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835) and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2009/55, August 28, 2009.
46
For a detailed discussion of this information, as well as the documents concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons related
studies, see GOV/2008/15,
May 26, 2008.
63
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions
1737 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2008/15, May 26, 2008. Excerpts of related internal IAEA documents are available at http://www.isis-online.org/
publications/iran/IAEA_info_3October2009.pdf and in George Jahn, “Nuke Agency Says Iran Can Make Bomb,”
Associated Press, September 17, 2009. A related discussion is found in Mark Hibbs, “Iran Plant Disclosure May
Prompt IAEA to Focus on Weapons Data,” Nucleonics Week, October 1, 2009.
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The agency also wants Iran to provide more information on nuclear-related procurement,
production, and research activity by entities linked to Iran’s military and defense establishments.
These included attempts to obtain items, such as spark gaps, shock wave software, and neutron
sources, which could be useful for developing nuclear weapons.47 In addition, ElBaradei’s May
2008 report notes that “substantial parts” of Iran’s centrifuge components “were manufactured in
the workshops of the Defence Industries Organization.”
Furthermore, the IAEA has asked Tehran to provide additional information about the manner in
which it acquired a document “describing the procedures” for reducing uranium hexafluoride to
uranium metal, as well as “machining ... enriched uranium metal into hemispheres,” which are
“components of nuclear weapons.”48 Tehran has previously told the agency that it was offered
equipment for casting uranium but never actually received it. According to Iran, its nuclear
suppliers, many of whom were affiliated with the Khan network, provided the document in 1987
at their own initiative, rather than at Tehran’s request. Islamabad has confirmed to the IAEA that
“an identical document exists” in Pakistan.49
ElBaradei’s November 2008 report points out that the IAEA, with the exception of the document
related to uranium metal, has “no information ... on the actual design or manufacture by Iran” of
components (nuclear or otherwise) for nuclear weapons.
That report, as well as subsequent reports from ElBaradei, also suggests that Iran and the IAEA
are at an impasse. Indeed, ElBaradei told the Board of Governors November 26 that, absent
further Iranian cooperation, the agency’s investigation has “effectively reached a dead end.”
Tehran has not cooperated with the agency on these matters since ElBaradei’s September 2008
report. Iranian officials have indicated that Tehran will not provide any further information to the
agency.50 Nevertheless, Iran has been cooperating with the agency in other respects, albeit with
varying consistency. The IAEA has been able to verify that Iran’s declared nuclear facilities and
materials have not been diverted for military purposes. And Tehran has provided the agency with
“information similar to that which Iran had previously provided pursuant to the Additional
Protocol,” ElBaradei reported in February 2008, adding that this information clarified the
agency’s “knowledge about Iran’s current declared nuclear programme.” Iran, however, provided
this information “on an ad hoc basis and not in a consistent and complete manner,” the report
said.51 Indeed, the IAEA requested in April 2008 that Iran provide “as a transparency measure,
access to additional locations related ... to the manufacturing of centrifuges, R&D on uranium
enrichment, and uranium mining.” Tehran has not yet agreed to do so, however.
ElBaradei’s February 2008 report underscored the importance of full Iranian cooperation with the
agency’s investigation, as well as Tehran’s implementation of its additional protocol:
Confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme requires that the
Agency be able to provide assurances not only regarding declared nuclear material, but,
equally importantly, regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in
47
GOV/2008/4.
GOV/2008/15.
49
GOV/2008/15.
48
50
“Iran not to Answer Calls Beyond NPT,” Fars News Agency, November 20, 2008; “Tehran Will Have
Comprehensive Interaction with IAEA: Official,” Islamic Republic News Agency, November 19, 2008; INFCIRC/737.
51
GOV/2008/4.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
2009/55, August 28, 2009.
64
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, GOV/2011/65, November 8, 2011.
65
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/2012/9, February 24, 2012.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
have civilian applications, “others are specific to nuclear weapons,” the report notes. Most of
these activities were conducted before the end of 2003, though some may have continued. (See
Appendix B and “Nuclear Weapons Development Capabilities”) for more details.
The IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution November 18, 2011, stating that “it is
essential” for Iran and the IAEA “to intensify their dialogue aiming at the urgent resolution of all
outstanding substantive issues.” Since then, the agency has not made any substantive progress on
these matters. However, beginning in January 2012, IAEA and Iranian officials have held five
meetings, one of which included Director-General Amano, to devise a procedure for resolving
these issues. The two sides have discussed what the IAEA has termed a “structured approach to
the clarification of all outstanding issues related to Iran’s nuclear programme.”66 According to the
agency, this approach includes “issues to be addressed, initial actions and modalities” and is
designed to ensure that Iran will provide “access for the Agency to all relevant information,
documentation, sites, material and personnel.”67 The approach is also designed to address “Iran’s
security concerns;”68 Tehran has previously expressed concern to the IAEA that resolving some of
the outstanding issues would require agency inspectors to have “access to sensitive information
related to its conventional military and missile related activities.”69 IAEA and Iranian officials
discussed the “structured approach” on August 24, 2012, but the two sides did not reach an
agreement.
Parchin
Parchin is an Iranian military site. As part of its investigation into “possible military dimensions”
of Iran’s nuclear program, the IAEA wants Tehran to respond to information which the agency
obtained from unnamed governments indicating that in 2000 “Iran constructed a large explosives
containment vessel” at Parchin in which to conduct experiments related to the development of
nuclear weapons, according to Amano’s November 2011 report.70 The report does not say whether
Iran actually built the vessel or conducted these experiments at Parchin. Iran, according to a May
2012 report from Amano, has argued that granting IAEA inspectors access to Parchin “would not
be possible before agreement had been reached” on the investigative approach described above.
IAEA inspectors visited the site twice in 2005, but did not visit the location “now believed to
contain the building which houses the explosives chamber.”71 Amano told reporters on August 22,
2012, that apparent Iranian efforts to remove evidence of past nuclear-related activities could
“hamper our verification activities.”72 These activities have included “moving soil, demolishing
buildings, using water, removing fences, [and] doing landscape activities,” he said. For more
information about the Parchin site, see Appendix B.
66
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/2012/23, May 25, 2012.
67
Ibid.
68
Ibid.
69
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, GOV/2008/38, September 15, 2008.
70
GOV/2011/65.
71
Ibid.
72
“IAEA Head ‘Not Optimistic’ on Access to Iran Military Site,” Reuters, August 22, 2012.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
Other Issues
Despite the apparent stalemate over the issues described in the previous section, Iran has
cooperated with the IAEA in other respects, albeit with varying consistency. The IAEA has been
able to verify that Iran’s declared nuclear facilities and materials have not been diverted for
military purposes.73 Moreover, Tehran has provided the agency with “information similar to that
which Iran had previously provided pursuant to the Additional Protocol,” ElBaradei reported to
the IAEA board in February 2008, adding that this information clarified the agency’s “knowledge
about Iran’s current declared nuclear programme.”74 Iran, however, provided this information “on
an ad hoc basis and not in a consistent and complete manner,” the report said. Indeed, the IAEA
requested in April 2008 that Iran provide “as a transparency measure, access to additional
locations related ... to the manufacturing of centrifuges, R&D on uranium enrichment, and
uranium mining.”75 Tehran has never agreed to do so, however.
ElBaradei’s February 2008 report underscored the importance of full Iranian cooperation with the
IAEA investigation, as well as Tehran’s implementation of its Additional Protocol:
Confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme requires that the
Agency be able to provide assurances not only regarding declared nuclear material, but,
equally importantly, regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in
Iran ... Although Iran has provided some additional detailed information about its current
activities on an ad hoc basis, the Agency will not be in a position to make progress towards
providing credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities
in Iran before reaching some clarity about the nature of the alleged studies, and without
implementation of the Additional Protocol.76
The IAEA has also asked Iran to “reconsider” its March 2007 decision to stop complying with a
portion of the subsidiary arrangements for its IAEA safeguards agreement.5277 That provision, to
which Iran agreed in February 2003, requires Tehran to provide design information for new nuclear
nuclear facilities “as soon as the decision to construct, or to authorize construction, of such a
facility has
been taken, whichever is earlier.” Previously, Iran was required to provide design
information for
a new facility only 180 days before introducing nuclear material into it.5378 If Tehran
does not alter
this decision, the agency will receive considerably later notice about the
construction of future
Iranian nuclear facilities. Indeed, invoking its March 2007 decision, Iran until recently failed to
provide the IAEA with
withheld from the IAEA until September 2009 “preliminary design information” for the planned
Darkhovin reactor. The
IAEA; the agency first requested the information in December 2007; Tehran provided it in September 2009.
. Tehran has also
refused to provide updated design information for the Arak reactor.
– a decision which, according
to Amano’s May 2012 report, “is now having an adverse impact on the Agency’s ability to
effectively verify the design of the facility.”
73
GOV/2012/23.
GOV/2008/4.
75
GOV/2008/15.
76
GOV/2008/4.
77
According to the 2001 IAEA Safeguards Glossary, subsidiary arrangements describe the “technical and
administrative procedures for specifying how the provisions laid down in a safeguards agreement are to be applied.”
78
For more detail about Iran’s safeguards obligations and reporting requirements, see CRS Report R40094, Iran’s
Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International Obligations.
74
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
Iran had also refused to allow IAEA officials to conduct an inspection of the Arak reactor in order
to verify design information that Tehran provided to the agency. ElBaradei argued in his June
2009 reporta June 2009
report to the IAEA board that this continued refusal “could adversely impact the Agency’s ability
to carry out
effective safeguards at that facility,” adding that satellite imagery is insufficient
because Iran has
completed the “containment structure over the reactor building, and the roofing
for the other
buildings on the site.” However, IAEA inspectors visited the reactor facility in
August 2009 to
verify design information, according to ElBaradei’s report issued the same month. IAEA
;
IAEA inspectors had last visited the reactor in August 2008. Inspectors have visited the facility
several more times, according to reports from Amano.
In addition, Iran failed to notify the IAEA until September 2009 that it was constructing a
uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. In a letter published October 1, the IAEA asked
Iran to provide additional information about the facility, including “further information with
respect to the name and location of the pilot enrichment facility, the current status of its
construction and plans for the introduction of nuclear material into the facility.” The letter also
requested that Tehran provide IAEA inspectors with access to the facility “as soon as possible.”
ElBaradei announced during an October 4 press conference that IAEA officials would inspect the
Qom facility October 25, citing the agency’s need to understand its “relationship to Iran’s nuclear
program, its capacity and many other, technical questions.” Agency officials inspected the facility
and met with Iranian officials October 25-28. According to ElBaradei’s November report, Tehran
“provided access to all areas of the facility,” which “corresponded with the design information
provided by Iran” October 18. The next inspection of the facility was scheduled for the end of
November 2009, the report said. Although Iran provided additional design information to the
IAEA October 28, the agency still has questions about the facility’s “purpose and chronology”
and wishes to interview other Iranian officials and review additional documentation, according to
ElBaradei’s report. (For more details about the facility, see the “Qom Facility” section below.)
52
According to the 2001 IAEA Safeguards Glossary, subsidiary arrangements describe the “technical and
administrative procedures for specifying how the provisions laid down in a safeguards agreement are to be applied.”
53
For more detail about Iran’s safeguards obligations and reporting requirements, see CRS Report R40094, Iran’s
Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International Obligations.
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ElBaradei’s report states that Iran has told the IAEA that it does not have any other undeclared
nuclear facilities “currently under construction or in operation,” but adds that the agency has
asked Tehran to confirm that it has not “taken a decision to construct, or to authorize construction
of, any other [undeclared] nuclear facility.” ElBaradei told the IAEA Board of Governors
November 26 that “Iran’s late declaration of the new facility reduces confidence in the absence
of other nuclear facilities under construction in Iran which have not been declared to the Agency.”
The IAEA board adopted a resolution November 27, 2009, describing Tehran’s failure to notify
the agency of the Qom facility as “inconsistent with” the subsidiary arrangements under Tehran’s
safeguards agreement.
ElBaradei’s November report also points out that Iran has not provided the IAEA with requested
information about its fuel fabrication plant.
Status of Iran’s Nuclear Programs
Some non-governmental experts and former U.S. officials have argued that, rather than producing
fissile material indigenously, Iran could obtain such material from foreign sources.54 A National
Intelligence Estimate (NIE) made public December 3, 2007, states that the intelligence
community “cannot rule out that Iran has acquired from abroad—or will acquire in the future—a
nuclear weapon or enough fissile material for a weapon.”55 Similarly, during a press briefing that
same day, a senior intelligence official characterized such acquisition as “an inherent option” for
Iran. However, Tehran’s potential ability to produce its own HEU or plutonium is a greater cause
of concern; the official explained that “getting bits and pieces of fissile material from overseas is
not going to be sufficient” to produce a nuclear arsenal.
Fuel Manufacturing Plant
Iran is continuing work on a fuel manufacturing plant that, when complete, is to produce fuel for
the Arak and Darkhovin reactors.56 The plant has produced fuel rods and appears to be nearly
complete.57
Uranium Enrichment
Iran has a pilot centrifuge facility and a larger commercial facility, both located at Natanz. The
latter is eventually to hold more than 47,000 centrifuges.58 Former Vice President Gholamreza
54
See, for example, then-Undersecretary of State for U.S. Arms Control And International Security Robert Joseph’s
testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, February 9, 2006; and then-Director of Research Institute
for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Stephen Cambone’s testimony before the Senate Committee
on Governmental Affairs, September 21, 2000.
55
Available at http://odni.gov/press_releases/20071203_release.pdf.
56
“Aqazadeh: Iran Heralds Peaceful Nuclear Program,” Islamic Republic News Agency, April 8, 2008.
57
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2009/35, June 5, 2009.
58
GOV/2008/15. According to this report, Iran is planning to install 16 cascade units, each containing 18 164centrifuge cascades. Tehran has previously told the agency that it intends to install over 50,000 centrifuges; see
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director-General,
(continued...)
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Aghazadeh, who also headed Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization until July 2009, explained in
February 2009 that Iran’s goal is to install all of them by 2015.59 Iran began enriching uranium in
the facility after mid-April 2007; as of October 30, 2009, Tehran had produced an estimated total
of 1,763 kilograms of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride containing less than 5% uranium-235.60
This quantity of LEU, if further enriched, could theoretically produce enough HEU for a nuclear
weapon.61 However, an Iranian attempt to enrich this LEU would likely be detected by the IAEA.
(This point is discussed in greater detail below.)
Individual centrifuges are linked together in cascades; each cascade in the commercial facility
contains 164 centrifuges. According to ElBaradei’s November 2009 report, Iran was, as of
November 2, feeding uranium hexafluoride into 24 cascades (3,936 centrifuges) of first
generation (IR-1) centrifuges and is operating at least another 12 cascades (1,968 centrifuges)
without feedstock. Tehran is also installing and testing additional IR-1 centrifuges in the facility.62
Iran’s efforts to augment the facility’s enrichment capacity have slowed in recent months. For
example, Iran was, as of November 2, feeding uranium hexafluoride into 656 fewer centrifuges
than it was as of August 12. Additionally, the rate at which the government has been installing
centrifuges has decreased, according to data from ElBaradei’s last three reports. The head of
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, suggested during a September 22, 2009,
press conference that Iran would slow down its installation of centrifuges at Natanz and “focus on
research and development dimension in order to improve the quality of our productions.”63
Iran is testing two other types of more advanced centrifuges in a pilot facility, which could
increase the commercial facility’s enrichment capacity.64 Aghazadeh indicated this past February
that at least one new type of centrifuge would be installed in the “near future,”65 but the research
on new centrifuges has apparently been less successful than Tehran’s development of its IR-1
centrifuge. 66 Nevertheless, Salehi stated in a December 18 interview that Iran hopes to have the
new types of centrifuges operational by early 2011.67
In addition to its centrifuge work, Iran produced approximately 541 metric tons of uranium
hexafluoride between March 2004 and August 10, 2009.68 Prior to 2009, Tehran apparently
(...continued)
GOV/2004/83. Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who headed Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, also said in February 2009
that Iran would install 50,000 centrifuges (“Iran to Follow Nuclear Timetable Regardless of IAEA Reports – Official,”
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009).
59
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009.
60
GOV/2009/74.
61
The IAEA term for this amount of uranium is “significant quantity,” defined as the “approximate amount of nuclear
material for which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded.” That amount is 25
kilograms of uranium-235. Some types of weapons could be developed using less uranium-235.
62
GOV/2009/74.
63
“Iran Scientists Build New Generation of Centrifuges - Nuclear Official,” Islamic Republic News Agency, September
22, 2009.
64
GOV/2009/74. A June 2009 from ElBaradei report stated that Iran was testing four other more-advanced centrifuges.
65
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009.
66
Analyst interview with U.S. official, June 25, 2009.
67
“Iran to Produce New Generation of Centrifuges - Nuclear Chief,” Fars News Agency, December 18, 2009.
68
Based on data from GOV/2009/74.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
improved its ability to produce centrifuge feedstock of sufficient purity for light-water reactor
fuel;69 whether Iran is currently able to produce feedstock pure enough for weapons-grade HEU is
unclear.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said December 3, 2007, that a country needs to be able to
“operate large numbers of centrifuges for long periods of time with very small failure rates” in
order to be able to “make industrial quantities of enriched uranium.” The NIE stated that Iran still
“faces significant technical problems operating” its centrifuges. Since then, however, Iran’s
ability to operate its centrifuges appears to have improved, although, as of June 2009, its IR-1
centrifuges continued to run below design capacity. 70 A report to Congress submitted by the
Deputy Director for National Intelligence described the amount of LEU that Iran produced in
2008 as a “significant improvement” over the amount it had produced in 2007.71 Indeed, data
from IAEA reports demonstrate that the Natanz facility’s rate of LEU production increased
significantly between January and May 2008. Other analysts have reached similar conclusions.
For example, a September 15, 2008, report from the Institute for Science and International
Security (ISIS) says that Tehran’s centrifuges “appear to be running at approximately 85 percent
of their stated target capacity, a significant increase over previous rates.”72 A senior UN official
reportedly offered a similar assessment that same month.73 Moreover, a June 2009 ISIS report
points out that, based on data from ElBaradei’s report issued that month, Iran has improved its
daily rate of LEU production by 20%.74 That rate remained the same, according to data from
ElBaradei’s August report,75 but has since increased slightly, according to data from ElBaradei’s
November report.
The extent to which Iran’s progress is sustainable is open to question. Former Pakistani nuclear
official Abdul Qadeer Khan described Pakistan’s first-generation centrifuges as “unsuccessful” in
a 1998 interview.76 Furthermore, Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute of Strategic
Studies observed that “[i]t can be years before it is clear whether and enrichment programme is
69
IISS Strategic Comments, “Nuclear Iran: How Close Is It?,” September 2007, available at http://www.iiss.org/
publications/strategic-comments/past-issues/volume-13-2007/volume-13-issue-7/nuclear-iran/; Paul Kerr, “Iran
Continues Security Council Defiance,” Arms Control Today, June 2007; analyst interview with State Department
official October 28, 2008.
70
Analyst interview with U.S. official, June 25, 2009.
71
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and
Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering 1 January to 31 December 2008. Available at http://www.dni.gov/
reports/
Unclassified%20Report%20to%20Congress%20WMD%20Covering%201January%20to%2031%20December%20200
8.pdf.
72
David Albright, Jacqueline Shire, and Paul Brannan, IAEA Report on Iran: Centrifuge Operation Significantly
Improving; Gridlock on Alleged Weaponization Issues, September 15, 2008, available at http://www.isis-online.org/
publications/iran/ISIS_Report_Iran_15September2008.pdf. The report compares data from the previous IAEA reports
about the amount of uranium hexafluoride fed into Iran’s centrifuges.
73
Peter Crail, “ElBaradei Says Iran Stalls IAEA Inquiry,” Arms Control Today, October 2008.
74
David Albright and Jacqueline Shire, IAEA Report on Iran: Centrifuge and LEU Increases; Access To Arak Reactor
Denied; No Progress on Outstanding Issues, June 5, 2009. Available at http://isis-online.org/publications/iran/
Iran_IAEA_Report_Analysis_5June2009.pdf.
75
David Albright, Paul Brannan, and Jacqueline Shire, IAEA Report On Iran: Centrifuges Increase; Rate of LEU
Production Steady; Progress on Inspection Requests at Arak and Natanz; No Progress on Possible Military Dimensions,
August 28, 2009. Available at http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iran/Analysis_IAEA_Report.pdf.
76
“A Talk with A.Q. Khan: Pakistan’s Top Nuclear Scientist Talks About Nuclear Weapons,” Jane’s Foreign Report,
July 24, 1998.
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working well,” noting that centrifuges at a Japanese enrichment facility “started to crash seven
years after installation.”77
It is also worth noting that Iran’s ability to produce additional feedstock for centrifuges may be
hindered by its dwindling supply of uranium oxide; Tehran is apparently running out of foreignsupplied uranium oxide and, although Iran is producing more of the material from indigenously
mined uranium, 78 it had not yet transferred any indigenously produced uranium oxide to its
uranium conversion facility as of June 2009.79 Whether this is still the case is unclear; ElBaradei’s
last two reports state that Iran has shipped samples of ammonium diuranate to the conversation
facility, suggesting that Iran has not yet shipped large quantities of uranium oxide to the facility.
A senior intelligence official explained during the December 2007 press briefing that the
“acquisition of fissile material ... remains the governing element in any timelines in which they’d
have a nuclear device.” Stating that “centrifuge enrichment is how Iran probably could first
produce enough fissile material for a weapon,” the 2007 NIE adds that “the earliest possible date
Iran would be technically capable of producing enough HEU for a weapon is late 2009.”80 This
date, however, “is very unlikely,” the estimate says, adding that “Iran probably would be
technically capable of producing enough HEU for a weapon sometime during the 2010-2015 time
frame.” But the State Department Bureau for Intelligence and Research, the estimate says, judges
that Tehran “is unlikely to achieve this capability before 2013”81 and all intelligence agencies
“recognize the possibility that this capability may not be attained until after 2015.”82 Some
independent experts have published estimates for the amount of time necessary for the Natanz
facility to produce enough HEU for a weapon—a process that would require Iran to reconfigure
the cascades, which are not currently configured to produce HEU, and further enrich the
uranium.83
As noted, the above time frame assesses Tehran’s capability to produce HEU from its Natanz
facility. However, the 2007 NIE states that Iran “probably would use covert facilities—rather than
its declared nuclear sites—for the production of highly enriched uranium for a weapon.” Indeed,
it is very difficult to divert without detection significant amounts of nuclear material from
centrifuge facilities under IAEA safeguards. A 2004 CIA report concluded that “inspections and
77
Mark Fitzpatrick, The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: Avoiding Worst-Case Outcomes, Adelphi Paper 398, International
Institute of Strategic Studies, May 2008, p. 50.
78
David Albright, Jacqueline Shire and Paul Brannan, Is Iran Running Out of Yellowcake?, Institute for Science and
International Security, February 11, 2009. Available at http://isis-online.org/publications/iran/Iran_Yellowcake.pdf;
Barak Ravid, “Israel Slams Clinton Statement on Nuclear Iran,” Haaretz, July 22, 2009; Mark Fitzpatrick, Statement
before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, March 3, 2009.
79
Analyst interview with U.S. official, June 25, 2009.
80
This time frame describes the point at which Iran could have enough HEU for a weapon, rather than when Iran could
start producing HEU.
81
In responses to Questions for the Record from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which were made public
in August 2009, the Director for National Intelligence stated that the Bureau continues to stand by this estimate.
82
The time frame described in the 2007 NIE is the same as one described in a 2005 NIE.
83
See, for example, R. Scott Kemp and Alexander Glaser, “Statement on Iran’s Ability to Make a Nuclear Weapon and
the Significance of the 19 February 2009 IAEA Report on Iran’s Uranium-Enrichment Program,” March 2, 2009
(available at http://www.princeton.edu/~rskemp/can-iran-make-a-bomb.pdf); R. Scott Kemp, “Update On Iran’s Ability
to Make a Nuclear Weapon and the Significance of the 5 June 2009 IAEA Report on Iran’s Uranium-Enrichment
Program,” June 17, 2009; Albright and Shire, June 5, 2009; and David Albright, Paul Brannan, and Jacqueline Shire,
Nuclear Weapon Breakout Scenarios: Correcting the Record, March 18, 2009 (available at
http://www.isisnucleariran.org/assets/pdf/Correcting_the_Record.pdf).
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safeguards will most likely prevent Tehran from using facilities declared to the IAEA directly for
its weapons program as long as Iran remains a party to the NPT.”84 Moreover, it would be
extremely difficult to reconfigure the cascades in the Natanz facility without detection.85
Although Tehran could end its cooperation with the IAEA and use its declared centrifuge
facilities to develop fissile material, such an action would be virtually unprecedented. 86
A senior intelligence official explained that Iran could use knowledge gained from its Natanz
facilities at covert enrichment facilities. According to the NIE, a “growing amount of intelligence
indicates Iran was engaged in covert uranium conversion and uranium enrichment activity,” but
Tehran probably stopped those efforts in 2003.
Qom Facility87
Despite the intelligence assessment described in the previous paragraph, Iran revealed that it was
constructing a new gas-centrifuge-based enrichment facility in September 2009. Tehran provided
some details about the facility to the IAEA in a September 21, 2009, letter. Four days after the
IAEA received the letter, officials from the United States, Britain, and France revealed that they
had previously developed intelligence on the facility. The three governments provided a detailed
intelligence briefing to the IAEA after the agency received Iran’s letter. U.S. officials have said
that, despite its letter to the agency, Iran intended for the facility to be kept secret. As noted, the
IAEA inspected the facility in October.
The United States has been “observing and analyzing the facility for several years,” according to
September 25, 2009, Obama administration talking points, which added that “there was an
accumulation of evidence” earlier in 2009 that the facility was intended for enriching uranium.
Some of this evidence apparently indicated that “Iran was installing the infrastructure required for
centrifuges earlier this year.” U.S. officials have not said exactly when Iran began work on the
facility, which is “located in an underground tunnel complex on the grounds of an Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps” base near the Iranian city of Qom. 88 According to ElBaradei’s
November report, Iran has informed the IAEA that construction on the site began in the second
half of 2007. However, the agency has information that appears to contradict Tehran’s claim and,
as noted, has asked Iran to provide more information about the facility’s chronology.89
84
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and
Advanced Conventional Munitions, January 1-December 31, 2004, available at http://www.odni.gov/reports/
2004_unclass_report_to_NIC_DO_16Nov04.pdf.
85
For more details about cascade configuration, see Houston G. Wood, Alexander Glaser, and R. Scott Kemp, “The
Gas Centrifuge and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation,” Physics Today, September 2008; International Institute for
Strategic Studies, Iran’s Strategic Weapons Programmes: A Net Assessment, (UK: Routledge, 2005), pp. 53-54.
86
No state that has been found in good standing with the IAEA has ever used this tactic. North Korea restarted its
nuclear weapons program after announcing its withdrawal from the NPT in 2003, but the IAEA has never completed an
assessment of that country’s nuclear activities.
87
Unless otherwise noted, this section is based on Iran’s September 21, 2009 letter to IAEA and September 25
background briefings from U.S. officials, along with associated talking points.
88
Despite its location, the United States assess that Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization is responsible for the facility’s
“development.”
89
Majlis speaker Ali Larijani, who was formerly Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, indicated September 27 that Iran had
been constructing the facility for approximately three years. (“Iran Speaker Says Country has Fully Mastered Nuclear
Technology,” Islamic Republic News Agency, September 27, 2009).
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President Obama stated September 25 that “the size and configuration of this facility is
inconsistent with a peaceful program.” But the administration’s talking points were somewhat
more vague, stating that the facility “is too small to be viable for production of fuel for a nuclear
power reactor,” although it “could be used” for centrifuge research and development or
“configured to produce weapons-grade uranium.” The facility “would be capable of producing
approximately one weapon’s worth” of HEU per year, depending on the type and performance of
the installed centrifuges.
Iranian officials have said that the facility is for peaceful purposes and that Tehran has acted in
accordance with its international obligations. The letter to the IAEA described the facility as a
“new pilot fuel enrichment plant” that would produce uranium enriched to no higher than 5%
uranium-235. Regarding the facility’s secret nature, Iranian officials have argued that Tehran was
not previously obligated to disclose it to the IAEA.90 Furthermore, Iranian officials have stated on
several occasions that the facility was concealed in order to protect it from military
attacks.91According to ElBaradei’s report, the facility is “at an advanced stage of construction,”
but Iran has neither installed centrifuges nor introduced nuclear material into the facility. Tehran
plans to install 16 cascades with approximately 3,000 IR-1 centrifuges and is constructing support
buildings at the facility. Iran told the IAEA that it plans to install IR-1 centrifuges, but added that
“the facility could be reconfigured to contain centrifuges of more advanced types should Iran take
a decision to use such centrifuges in the future,” the report says. According to the United States,
Tehran will not be able to begin enriching uranium in the facility before 2010. Iranian officials
have told the IAEA that the plant “is planned to be operational in 2011.”92
Possible Future Enrichment Facilities
In addition to the Qom facility, Iranian officials have indicated that Tehran intends to construct
ten additional centrifuge plants—a goal that many analysts argue is virtually unachievable. Salehi
stated December 18 that Iran is investigating locations for the sites.93
Iranian officials have denied that they have other undisclosed enrichment-related facilities94 and
no British, French, or U.S. officials have disclosed evidence of such Iranian facilities. However,
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband suggested in a September 28 television interview that Iran
is engaged in other secret nuclear activities.95 Similarly, Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Amos
Yadlin suggested in December that Iran has been constructing covert nuclear facilities for a
weapons program. 96 For its part, the November 2009 IAEA Board of Governors resolution stated
that Iran’s declaration of the Qom facility “reduces the level of confidence in the absence of other
90
For more information, see CRS Report R40094, Iran’s Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International
Obligations, by Paul K. Kerr.
91
See, for example, “Iranian Nuclear Negotiator Says 5+1 Talks ‘Positive’,” Islamic Republic of Iran News Network,
October 1, 2009.
92
GOV/2009/74.
93
Fars News Agency, December 18, 2009.
94
See, for example, Press Conference with Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister for Foreign Affairs of The Islamic Republic
of Iran, Federal News Service, October 1, 2009.
95
“UK Condemns Iran Missile Test,” September 28, 2009. Available at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?
view=News&id=20915346.
96
Naama Lani, “Yadlin: We Haven’t Had Such a Calm Winter in Decades,” ynetnews, December 15, 2009.
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nuclear facilities and gives rise to questions about whether there are any other [undeclared]
nuclear facilities under construction in Iran.”
Plutonium
Iran acknowledged to the IAEA in 2003 that it had conducted plutonium-separation
experiments—an admission which aroused suspicions that Iran could have a program to produce
plutonium for nuclear weapons. The IAEA, however, continued to investigate the matter, and
ElBaradei reported in August 2007 that the agency has resolved its questions about Iran’s
plutonium activities. 97
The 2007 NIE stated that “Iran will not be technically capable of producing and reprocessing
enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015.” But, as noted above, Iran says that it does
not plan to engage in reprocessing, and numerous reports from ElBaradei have noted that the
IAEA has found no evidence that Iran is engaging in any such activities.
Arak Reactor
Iran says that its heavy-water reactor, which is being constructed at Arak, is intended for the
production of medical isotopes. According to a May 5, 2008, presentation by Ambassador Ali
Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency,
the reactor is to substitute for an “outdated” LEU-fueled research reactor in Tehran that has been
in operation since 1967.98 99 However, the reactor is a proliferation concern because its spent fuel
will contain plutonium better suited for nuclear weapons than the plutonium produced by lightwater moderated reactors, such as the Bushehr reactor. In addition, Iran will be able to operate the
reactor with natural uranium, which means that it will not be dependent on supplies of enriched
uranium. Salehi stated September 26, 2009, that the reactor would be “operational” within the
next three or four years.”100
Iran also has a plant for producing heavy water. According to ElBaradei’s June 2009 report,
satellite imagery indicates that the plant has been “operating intermittently” since February 2009.
ElBaradei’s report from that month stated that the plant was “in operational condition,” but his
two most recent reports have stated that the plant appears not to be operating.
ElBaradei’s November report states that, during an October 25 inspection of Iran’s uranium
conversion facility, IAEA inspectors “observed 600 50-litre drums said by Iran to contain heavy
water.” The inspectors visited the facility in order to verify an updated Design Information
Questionnaire submitted by Iran in August 2009 and observed the drums after gaining access to
an area of the facility which agency inspectors had not previously visited. 101 The agency has
97
Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/2007/48, August 30, 2007.
“Iran’s Exclusively Peaceful Nuclear Programs and Activities,” Briefing for NGOs, May 5, 2008, available at
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/prepcom08/WP/iran_briefing.pdf.
99
Despite this claim, Iranian officials stated in September 2009 that Iran needs to obtain more LEU fuel for the reactor.
See “Iran Scientists Build New Generation of Centrifuges,” September 22, 2009.
98
100
Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 2, September 26, 2009.
101
CRS analyst interview with a U.S. official, December 17, 2009.
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asked Tehran to “confirm the number of drums and their contents, and to provide information on
the origin of the heavy water.”
Bushehr Reactor
Iran is also constructing near the city of Bushehr a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power reactor
moderated by light water. The original German contractor, which began constructing the reactor
in 1975, abandoned the project following Iran’s 1979 revolution. Russia agreed in 1995 to
complete the reactor, but the project has since encountered repeated delays. In February 2005,
Moscow and Tehran concluded an agreement stating that Russia would supply fuel for the reactor
for 10 years. Atomstroyexport sent the first shipment of LEU fuel to Iran on December 16, 2007,
and the reactor received the last shipment near the end of January 2008. The fuel, which is under
IAEA seal, will contain no more than 3.62% uranium-235, according to an Atomstroyexport
spokesperson.102
According to ElBaradei’s August report, loading fuel into the reactor was scheduled to take place
during October and November 2009, but this has not yet occurred. Iranian and Russian officials
had said that the reactor would begin operating by the end of 2009,103 but Russian Minister of
Energy Sergei Shmatko stated November 16, 2009, that the reactor would not start up in 2009.104
Salehi stated December 18 that “[i]f no particular problems occur, we will witness the
inauguration of the power plant within the next few months.”105 It is widely believed that
Moscow may be delaying the project in order to increase political pressure on Iran to comply with
the Security Council resolutions, although both Russian and Iranian officials have attributed the
current delay to technical issues.
The United States had previously urged Moscow to end work on the project, citing concerns that
it could aid an Iranian nuclear weapons program by providing the country with access to nuclear
technology and expertise. 106 However, U.S. officials said in 2002 that Washington would drop
these public objections if Russia took steps to mitigate the project’s proliferation risks; the 2005
deal requires Iran to return the spent nuclear fuel to Russia.107 This measure is designed to ensure
that Tehran will not separate plutonium from the spent fuel. Moscow also argues that the reactor
will not pose a proliferation risk because it will operate under IAEA safeguards. It is worth noting
102
“Atomstroyexport Completes Latest Shipment of Fuel to Bushehr Nuclear Plant,” Interfax, December 28, 2007.
“Envoy: Bushehr N. Plant to Go on Stream in Winter,” Fars News Agency, July 21, 2009; “Russia Confirms Launch
of Iranian Nuclear Reactor by Year End,” RIA Novosti, July 22, 2009.
104
“Bushehr NPP Won’t be Launched in 2009 – Energy Minister,” Interfax, November 16, 2009.
105
Fars News Agency, December 18, 2009.
103
106
For example, then- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Marshall Billingslea testified before the Senate July 29,
2002, that the United States was “concerned that the Bushehr nuclear power project is, in reality, a pretext for the
creation of an infrastructure designed to help Tehran acquire atomic weapons.” Similar concerns are expressed in a
2005 State Department report (Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament
Agreements and Commitments, U.S. Department of State, August 2005, p.77.) Then-Undersecretary of State for
International Security and Arms Control John Bolton told the House International Relations Committee in June 2003
that Iran could build “over 80 nuclear weapons” if it had access to sufficient fuel, operated the reactor for five to six
years, and chose to withdraw from the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). This estimate assumes that Iran
possesses a reprocessing facility.
107
Estimates for the length of time the spent fuel will have to stay in Iran to cool range from two to five years. See Paul
Kerr, “Iran, Russia Reach Nuclear Agreement,” Arms Control Today, April 2005.
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that light-water reactors are generally regarded as more proliferation-resistant than other types of
reactors.
Although the UN Security Council resolutions restrict the supply of nuclear-related goods to Iran,
they do permit the export of nuclear equipment and fuel related to light-water reactors.
Does Iran Have a Nuclear Weapons Program?
In addition to the possible nuclear weapons-related activities discussed above, Iran has continued
to develop ballistic missiles, which could potentially be used to deliver nuclear weapons. It is
worth noting, however, that Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair indicated during a
March 10, 2009, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Iran’s missile developments do
not necessarily indicate that the government is also pursuing nuclear weapons, explaining that “I
don't think those missile developments ... prejudice the nuclear weapons decision one way or
another. I believe those are separate decisions.” Iran is developing missiles and space launch
vehicles “for multiple purposes,” he added.
In any case, Tehran’s nuclear program has also raised concerns for various other reasons. First,
Iran has been secretive about the program. For example, Tehran hindered the IAEA investigation
by failing to disclose numerous nuclear activities, destroying evidence, and making false
statements to the agency. 108 Moreover, although Iran’s cooperation with the agency has improved,
the IAEA has repeatedly criticized Tehran for failing to provide the agency with timely access to
documents and personnel.
Second, many observers have questioned Iran’s need for nuclear power, given the country’s
extensive oil and gas reserves. The fact that Tehran resumed its nuclear program during the IranIraq war has also cast doubt on the energy rationale. Furthermore, many countries with nuclear
power reactors purchase nuclear fuel from foreign suppliers—a fact that calls into question Iran’s
need for an indigenous enrichment capability, especially since Russia has agreed to provide fuel
for the Bushehr reactor. Moreover, although Tehran plans to develop a large nuclear power
program, the country lacks sufficient uranium deposits—a fact acknowledged by Iranian
officials. 109
However, Iran maintains that its enrichment program has always been exclusively for peaceful
purposes. Tehran argues that it cannot depend on foreign suppliers for reactor fuel because such
suppliers have been unreliable in the past.110 Iran also says that it has been forced to conceal its
nuclear procurement efforts in order to counter Western efforts to deny it nuclear technology—a
claim that appears to be supported by a 1997 CIA report.111 Aghazadeh has also argued that,
108
For example, Iran sanitized a facility where Iranian scientists had enriched uranium, falsely told the IAEA that it had
not enriched uranium, and falsely claimed that it had not procured any foreign components for one of its centrifuge
programs.
109
Iranian Students News Agency, April 17, 2007; Thomas W. Wood, Matthew D. Milazzo, Barbara A. Reichmuth,
and Jeffrey Bedell, “The Economics Of Energy Independence For Iran,” Nonproliferation Review, Vol. 14, No. 1,
March 2007.
110
Paul Kerr, “News Analysis: Behind Iran’s Diplomatic Behavior,” Arms Control Today, June 2006. Perhaps
significantly, Iranian officials argued for an independent fuel production capability during the 1970s; see U.S. Embassy
Tehran Airgram A-76 to State Department, “The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,” April 15, 1976.
111
The report says that Iran had responded to “Western counterproliferation efforts by relying more on legitimate
(continued...)
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although Iran does not need to produce fuel for the Bushehr reactor, the Natanz facility needs to
be completed if it is to be able to provide fuel for the planned Darkhovin reactor. 112
Although few experts argue that there is no evidence that Iran has pursued a nuclear weapons
program, some have documented Tehran’s projected difficulty in exporting oil and natural gas
without additional foreign investment in its energy infrastructure.113 And at least one expert has
described Iran’s inability to obtain nuclear fuel from an international enrichment consortium
called Eurodif. During the 1970s, Iran had reached an agreement with Eurodif that entitled Iran to
enriched uranium from the consortium in exchange for a loan.114
Iran’s stated rationale for its Arak reactor has also been met with some skepticism. Tehran says it
needs the reactor to produce medical isotopes and to replace the Tehran research reactor.
However, that reactor is capable of producing such isotopes and has unused capacity.
Furthermore, as noted, Iran has expressed the desire to obtain more fuel for the reactor. In
addition, non-proliferation experts have argued that the new reactor would be unnecessary for
producing such isotopes.115
The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate
According to the 2007 NIE, “Iranian military entities were working under government direction
to develop nuclear weapons” until fall 2003, after which Iran halted its nuclear weapons program
“primarily in response to international pressure.” The NIE defines “nuclear weapons program” as
“Iran’s nuclear weapon design and weaponization work and covert uranium conversion-related
and uranium enrichment-related work.” It adds that the intelligence community also assesses
“with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to
develop nuclear weapons.”116 The NIE also states that, because of “intelligence gaps,” the
Department of Energy and the National Intelligence Council “assess with only moderate
confidence that the halt to those activities represents a halt to Iran’s entire nuclear weapons
program.”
(...continued)
commercial firms as procurement fronts and by developing more convoluted procurement networks.”
112
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009.
113
See, for example, “U.S.-Iranian Engagement: The View from Tehran,” International Crisis Group, June 2, 2009;
Roger Stern, “The Iranian Petroleum Crisis and United States National Security,” Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of America, January 2007; and George Perkovich and Silvia Manzanero, “Plan B: Using
Sanctions to End Iran’s Nuclear Program,” Arms Control Today, May 2004. Projections of Iranian oil depletion are not
new. A 1975 U.S. government report stated that “Iran has decided now to introduce nuclear power to prepare against
the time – about 15 years in the future – when Iranian oil production is expected to begin to decline sharply.” (“Report
of the NSSM 219 Working Group Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with Iran,” April 1975).
114
Oliver Meier, “Iran and Foreign Enrichment: A Troubled Model,” Arms Control Today, January/February 2006.
115
Robert J. Einhorn, “Iran’s Heavy-Water Reactor: A Plutonium Bomb Factory,” November 9, 2006, available at
http://www.armscontrol.org/pressroom/2006/20061109_Einhorn.asp?print.
116
Prior to the NIE, some non-governmental experts had argued that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program.
See, for example, Paul Kerr, “Divided From Within,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November/December 2006;
Jeffrey Lewis, “Iran Roundup: Negotiations and Wonkporn,” July 27, 2005, available at
http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/703/iran-roundup-negotiations-and-wonkporn; and George Perkovich, Changing
Iran’s Nuclear Interests, Policy Outlook, Carnegie Endowment for international Peace, May 2005, available at
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/PO16.perkovich.FINAL2.pdf.
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The NIE also states that “Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less
determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005.”117 The change in
assessments, a senior intelligence official said December 3, 2007, was the result of “new
information which caused us to challenge our assessments in their own right, and illuminated
previous information for us to be able to see it perhaps differently than we saw before, or to make
sense of other data points that didn’t seem to self-connect previously.”
According to press accounts, this information included various written and oral communications
among Iranian officials which indicated that the program had been halted.118 The United States
may also have obtained information from Iranian officials who defected as part of a CIA program
to induce them to do so,119 as well as from penetration of Iran’s computer networks. 120
Additionally, the NIE also incorporated open-source information, such as photographs of the
Natanz facility that became available after Iran allowed a tour by members of the press.
According to the 2007 NIE, the intelligence community assesses “with moderate-to-high
confidence that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.” The community assesses “with low
confidence that Iran probably has imported at least some weapons-usable fissile material,” but
still judges “with moderate-to-high confidence” that Tehran still lacks sufficient fissile material
for a nuclear weapon.
On several occasions, the U.S. intelligence community has reaffirmed the 2007 NIE’s assessment
that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program but is keeping its options open. 121 For example,
Leon Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, did so in May 2009.122 Moreover, press
accounts indicated that, as of September 2009, the community did not believe that Tehran has
restarted its weapons program.123 The late-September revelation of the Qom facility has increased
suspicions that Iran may have restarted its nuclear weapons program. As noted, U.S. officials
117
Although the 2005 NIE stated that “Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons despite its international
obligations and international pressure,” that assessment was somewhat qualified. Titled “Iran’s Nuclear Program: At A
Crossroads,” the estimate stated that Iran was not “immovable” on the question of pursuing a nuclear weapons program
and also addressed the possibility that Tehran may not have had such a program. Moreover, the word “determined” was
used in lieu of “pursuing” a nuclear weapon because the authors believed the latter to be a stronger term. The NIE was
issued as a Memorandum to Holders of NIE 2001-15HC, “Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program: Multifaceted and Poised
to Succeed, But When?”
118
Dafna Linzer and Joby Warrick, “U.S. Finds that Iran Halted Nuclear Arms Bid in 2003,” Washington Post,
December 4, 2007; Greg Miller, “Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions on Hold, U.S. Agencies Conclude,” Los Angeles Times,
December 4, 2007; David E. Sanger and Steven Lee Myers, “Details in Military Notes Led to Shift on Iran, U.S. Says,”
New York Times, December 6, 2007; Peter Baker and Dafna Linzer, “Diving Deep, Unearthing a Surprise; How a
Search for Iran’s Nuclear Arms Program Turned Up an Unexpected Conclusion,” Washington Post, December 8, 2007.
119
Greg Miller, “CIA Has Recruited Iranians to Defect; The Secret Effort Aims to Undermine Tehran’s Nuclear
Program,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2007.
120
David Sanger and William Broad, “U.S. and Allies Press Iran over Nuclear Plant ‘Deception’,” The New York
Times, September 26, 2009.
121
See also the 2008 report to Congress submitted by the DDNI; February 12, 2009 testimony before the Senate
Intelligence Committee by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair; “Annual Threat Assessment of the
Intelligence Community for the Senate Intelligence Committee,” February 12, 2009; and March 10, 2009 testimony
before the Senate Armed Services Committee by Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Maples.
122
“Remarks of Director of Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, at the Pacific Council on International
Policy,” May 18, 2009.
123
Mark Hosenball, “Intelligence Agencies Say No New Nukes in Iran: Secret Updates to White House Challenge
European and Israeli Assessments,” Newsweek, September 16, 2009; David E. Sanger, “U.S. Says Iran Could Expedite
Nuclear Bomb,” The New York Times, September 10, 2009.
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have indicated that the facility is likely intended for a nuclear weapons program. Nevertheless,
administration talking points made public September 25, 2009, stated that the community still
assesses that “Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.”
Other factors also suggest that Iran may not have an active nuclear weapons program. First, the
IAEA has resolved several of the outstanding issues described in the August 2007 Iran-IAEA
work plan and has apparently not found additional evidence of a nuclear weapons program.
Indeed, the agency has not discovered significant undeclared Iranian nuclear activities for several
years (although, as noted above, the IAEA’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear facilities has
decreased). Second, Tehran, beginning in 2003, has been willing to disclose previously
undeclared nuclear activities to the IAEA (though, as previously discussed, Iran has not been fully
cooperating with the agency). Third, Iran made significant changes to the administration of its
nuclear program in fall 2003—changes that produced greater openness with the IAEA and may
have indicated a decision to stop a nuclear weapons program. 124
Fourth, as noted above, Iranian officials have stated numerous times that Tehran is not seeking
nuclear weapons, partly for religious regions—indeed, Khamenei has issued a fatwa against
nuclear weapons, according to Iranian officials. 125 A change in this stance could damage Iranian
religious leaders’ credibility. Moreover, Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute of Strategic
Studies argued in May 2008 that “given the pervasive religiosity of the regime, it is unlikely that
Iran’s supreme leader would be secretly endorsing military activity in explicit contradiction of his
own religious edict.”126
Fifth, Iranian officials have argued that nuclear weapons would not improve the country’s
national security because Iran would not be able to compete with the arsenals of larger countries,
such as the United States.127 Moreover, the U.S.-led spring 2003 invasion of Iraq, which
overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and thereby eliminated a key rival of Iran, may also have
induced Tehran to decide that it did not need nuclear weapons.
Living with Risk
Other findings of the NIE indicate that the international community may, for the foreseeable
future, have to accept some risk that Iran will develop nuclear weapons. According to the 2007
NIE, “only an Iranian political decision to abandon a nuclear weapons objective would plausibly
keep Iran from eventually producing nuclear weapons—and such a decision is inherently
reversible.” The estimate also asserted that “Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial
capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so,” adding that, “since fall
2003, Iran has been conducting research and development projects with commercial and
conventional military applications—some of which would also be of limited use for nuclear
weapons.”
124
This argument is explained in more detail in Kerr, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2006. For an in-depth discussion
of Iran’s nuclear decision-making process, see Abbas William Samii, “The Iranian Nuclear Issue and Informal
Networks,” Naval War College Review, Winter 2006.
125
Statement by H.E. Dr. M. Javad Zarif, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran Before the Security
Council, December 23, 2006.
126
The Iranian Nuclear Crisis, p. 13.
127
Soltanieh, June 29, 2008.
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This is not to say that an Iranian nuclear weapons capability is inevitable; as noted above, Iran
does not yet have such a capability. But Tehran would likely need to accept additional constraints
on its nuclear program in order to provide the international community with confidence that it is
not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Other Constraints on Nuclear Weapons Ambitions
Although the production of fissile material is widely considered to be the most difficult step in
nuclear weapons development, Iran would, even with the ability to produce HEU, still face
challenges in producing nuclear weapons, such as developing a workable physics package and
effective delivery vehicles. A 1978 CIA report points out that there is a
great difference between the development and testing of a simple nuclear device and the
development of a nuclear weapons system, which would include both relatively sophisticated
nuclear designs and an appropriate delivery system. 128
Although developing and producing HEU-based nuclear weapons covertly would probably be
Tehran’s preferred option, such a path would present additional challenges. A 2005 report from
the International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded that “an Iranian planner would have
little basis for confidence that significant nuclear facilities could be kept hidden.”129 Tehran would
need to hide a number of activities, including uranium conversion, the movement of uranium
from mines, and the movement of centrifuge feedstock. 130 Alternatively, Tehran could import
uranium ore or centrifuge feedstock, but would also need to do so covertly. Furthermore, Iran
could produce only fairly simple nuclear weapons, which are not deliverable by longer-range
missiles, without conducting explosive nuclear tests. Such tests, many analysts argue, would
likely be detected. 131 It is also worth noting that moving from the production of a simple nuclear
weapon to more sophisticated nuclear weapons could take several additional years.132
Author Contact Information
Paul K. Kerr
Analyst in Nonproliferation
pkerr@crs.loc.gov, 7-8693
128
Available at http://www.faqs.org/cia/docs/44/0000107983/html. For a more detailed discussion, see Office of
Technology Assessment, Technologies Underlying Weapons of Mass Destruction (OTA-BP-ISC-115), December
1993.
129
International Institute for Strategic Studies, p. 57.
130
The 2005 IISS report also explains that concealing a plutonium-based nuclear weapons program would be even
more difficult (pp. 62-63).
131
For a detailed discussion of this issue, see Steven A. Hildreth, statement before the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, March 5, 2008, available at
http://nationalsecurity.oversight.house.gov/documents/20080305141600.pdf.
132
Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential: A Joint Threat Assessment by U.S. and Russian Technical Experts, EastWest
Institute, May 2009. pp. 5-6.
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23, called the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, near the city of Qom. Iran
revealed in September 2009 that it had been constructing the facility and provided some details
about the it to the IAEA in a September 21, 2009, letter. Four days after the IAEA received the
letter, British, French, and U.S. officials revealed that they had previously developed intelligence
on the facility. The three governments provided a detailed intelligence briefing to the IAEA after
the agency received Iran’s letter. U.S. officials have said that, despite its letter to the agency, Iran
intended for the facility to be kept secret. Tehran placed the facility under IAEA safeguards after
its September 2009 letter. (For more details about the facility, see the “Fordow Enrichment
Facility” section below).
In a letter published on October 1, 2009, the IAEA asked Iran to provide additional information
about the facility, including “further information with respect to the name and location of the pilot
enrichment facility, the current status of its construction and plans for the introduction of nuclear
material into the facility.” The letter also requested that Tehran provide IAEA inspectors with
access to the facility “as soon as possible.” IAEA officials inspected the facility and met with
Iranian officials in late October 2009. According to a November 2009 report from ElBaradei to
the IAEA board, Tehran “provided access to all areas of the facility,” which “corresponded with
the design information provided by Iran” a week before the visit. IAEA officials have since
conducted regular inspections of the facility. Although Iran provided additional design
information about the facility to the IAEA, the agency still had questions about the facility’s
“purpose and chronology” and wished to interview other Iranian officials and review additional
documentation, according to ElBaradei’s report. Amano reported in May 2012 that Iran has
provided the IAEA with some requested information regarding the Fordow construction decision,
but the agency still wants more information from Tehran. ElBaradei told the IAEA board
November 26, 2009, that “Iran’s late declaration of the new facility reduces confidence in the
absence of other nuclear facilities under construction in Iran which have not been declared to the
Agency.”
The IAEA has also requested additional information about Iran’s production of heavy water. As
noted, Iran is constructing a heavy-water nuclear reactor. ElBaradei’s November 2009 report
states that, during an inspection of Iran’s uranium conversion facility the previous month, IAEA
inspectors “observed 600 50-litre drums said by Iran to contain heavy water.”79 The inspectors
visited the facility in order to verify updated design information submitted by Iran in August 2009
and observed the drums after gaining access to an area of the facility which agency inspectors had
not previously visited.80 Tehran has told the IAEA that the water originated in Iran and has
79
80
GOV/2009/74.
CRS analyst interview with a U.S. official, December 17, 2009.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
permitted agency inspectors to count the number of drums and to weigh a “small number of
randomly selected drums.” 81 But Tehran has not permitted the agency to take samples of the
heavy water.82 Moreover, the government has not granted repeated IAEA requests for “further
access” to Iran’s heavy- water production plant –a facility which agency inspectors have not
visited since August 2011.83
The IAEA is also attempting to resolve a discrepancy discovered during an August 2011
inspection of an Iranian research laboratory that had been used to conduct uranium conversion
experiments. IAEA measurements revealed that Iran had overstated the amount of material in the
facility, described in Amano’s November 2011 report as “natural uranium metal and process
waste,” by almost 20 kilograms.84 Iran and the IAEA are discussing methods for resolving the
discrepancy, according to Amano’s May 2012 report.85
Status of Iran’s Nuclear Facilities
Some non-governmental experts and former U.S. officials have argued that, rather than producing
fissile material for nuclear weapons indigenously, Iran could obtain such material from foreign
sources.86 A November 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) states that the intelligence
community “cannot rule out that Iran has acquired from abroad—or will acquire in the future—a
nuclear weapon or enough fissile material for a weapon.”87 Similarly, during a press briefing that
same day, a senior intelligence official characterized such acquisition as “an inherent option” for
Iran.88 However, Tehran’s potential ability to produce its own fissile material highly is a greater
cause of concern; the official explained that “getting bits and pieces of fissile material from
overseas is not going to be sufficient” to produce a nuclear arsenal.89 As noted, uranium
enrichment facilities can produce highly-enriched uranium (HEU), which is one of the two types
of fissile material used in nuclear weapons. The other type is plutonium, which is separated from
spent nuclear reactor fuel.
Uranium Enrichment Facilities
Iran is enriching uranium in three centrifuge facilities: a pilot centrifuge facility and a larger
commercial facility, both located at Natanz, and a centrifuge facility located near the city of Qom.
81
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2010/10, February 18, 2010.
82
GOV/2012/23.
83
Ibid.
84
GOV/2011/65.
85
GOV/2012/23.
86
See, for example, then-Undersecretary of State for U.S. Arms Control And International Security Robert Joseph’s
testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, February 9, 2006, and then-Director of Research Institute
for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Stephen Cambone’s testimony before the Senate Committee
on Governmental Affairs, September 21, 2000.
87
Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities, National Intelligence Estimate, November 2007.
88
“Unclassified Key Judgments of the National Intelligence Estimate: Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities,”
Background Briefing with Senior Intelligence Officials, December 3, 2007.
89
Ibid.
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Iran also has a variety of facilities and workshops involved in the production of centrifuges and
related components. (See Appendix C and CRS Report R42443, Israel: Possible Military Strike
Against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities, coordinated by Jim Zanotti.)
Natanz Commercial Facility
The commercial facility is eventually to hold more than 47,000 centrifuges.90 Former Vice
President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also headed Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization until July
2009, explained in February of that year that Iran’s goal is to install all of the centrifuges by
2015.91 Iran began enriching uranium in the facility after mid-April 2007; as of May 11, 2012,
Tehran had produced an estimated total of 6,197 kilograms of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride
containing up to five percent uranium-235.92 This quantity of LEU, if further enriched, could
theoretically produce enough HEU for at least four nuclear weapons.93 94 However, an Iranian
attempt to enrich this LEU would likely be detected by the IAEA.
Individual centrifuges are linked together in cascades; each cascade in the commercial facility
contains either 164 or 174 centrifuges. According to IAEA Director-General Amano’s May 2012
report, Iran was, as of May 19, 2012, feeding uranium hexafluoride into 52 cascades (8,818
centrifuges)95 of first generation (IR-1) centrifuges and had installed another three cascades.
Tehran is also installing additional IR-1 centrifuges in the facility.96
Natanz Pilot Facility
Iran began enriching uranium up to 20 percent uranium-235 in the Natanz pilot facility in
February 2010 and, as of May 18, 2012, had produced approximately 110 kilograms of the
material. Tehran has stated that this enriched uranium is to serve as fuel in Iran’s Tehran Research
90
GOV/2008/15. According to this report, Iran is planning to install 16 cascade units, each containing 18 164centrifuge cascades. Tehran has also told the agency that it intends to install over 50,000 centrifuges; see
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director-General,
GOV/2004/83. Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who headed Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, also said in February 2009
that Iran would install 50,000 centrifuges (“Iran to Follow Nuclear Timetable Regardless of IAEA Reports – Official,”
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009).
91
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009.
92
GOV/2012/23.
93
Based on David Albright, Andrea Stricker, and Christina Walrond, ISIS Analysis of IAEA Iran Safeguards Report:
Production of 3.5% Enriched Uranium Increases Significantly; Iran Continues to Increase its Stock of 19.75% LEU;
Rapid Installation of Large Numbers of IR-1 Centrifuge Outer Casings Not a Prelude to Dramatically Increased
Centrifuge Deployment at Natanz or Fordow; Advanced Centrifuge Program Still Troubled But Makes Some Progress,
Institute for Science and International Security, May 25, 2012, and calculations from Iran’s Nuclear, Chemical, and
Biological Capabilities: A Net Assessment, International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2011, p.72. The latter report
points out that Iran would likely need to produce more uranium-235 in order to produce its first nuclear weapon
because “the fabrication of an initial bomb would involve an amount of unavoidable wastage” (p.69).
94
The IAEA term for this amount of uranium is “significant quantity,” defined as the “approximate amount of nuclear
material for which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded.” That amount is 25
kilograms of uranium-235 (approximately 27.8 kilograms of uranium containing 90 percent uranium-235). Some types
of weapons could be developed using less uranium-235.
95
Some of the cascades that were being fed with feedstock may not have been working, according to Amano’s May
2012 report.
96
GOV/2012/23.
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Reactor (TRR), as well as future such research reactors.97 Fereydun Abbasi-Davani, Head of
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, stated in an April 2012 interview that, once Iran has
“enough” uranium enriched to this level, the country will use its enrichment facilities to produce
enriched uranium containing 3.5 percent uranium-235.98
Additionally, Iran is testing two types of more-advanced centrifuges in the pilot facility; these
centrifuges could increase the other enrichment facilities’ capacity.99 But the development of new
centrifuges has apparently been less successful than Tehran’s development of its IR-1
centrifuge;100 past estimates from Iranian officials regarding the deployment of more-advanced
centrifuges have been excessively optimistic.101 According to a 2012 report from a UN Panel of
Experts, the advanced centrifuge program’s lack of success “may be the result of sanctions
limiting” Tehran’s “ability to procure items necessary for its centrifuge programme,” as well as
“[o]ther variables, including design and manufacturing limitations, or a shortage of other
necessary materials.”102
Fordow Enrichment Facility103
Iran began enriching uranium in the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant in December 2011, according
to IAEA reports. Iran had, as of May 13, 2012, enriched approximately 35 kilograms of uranium
enriched up to 20 percent uranium-235 in the facility104 and was feeding uranium hexafluoride
into four cascades (696 centrifuges) of IR-1 centrifuges. Iran had installed a total of 1,064 IR-1
centrifuges in the facility. Tehran plans to install a total of install 16 cascades containing
approximately 3,000 centrifuges in the plant. Although Iran has only produced uranium enriched
to approximately 20 percent uranium-235, Tehran has told the IAEA that the facility will be
configured to produce both uranium enriched to five percent uranium-235 and 20 percent
uranium-235. Iran has installed only IR-1 centrifuges in the facility, but has told the IAEA that
97
Ibid. Iran will need to provide fuel for “at least 4 other research reactors,” according to the text of a June Iranian
proposal to the P5+1 (“Full Text of Iran’s Proposals to Six World Powers in Moscow Talks,” Fars News Agency, July
7, 2012). Abbasi stated in an April 2012 interview that Iran plans to design and build another 10 megawatt “strong pool
reactor” reactor. He indicated that the reactor would also use fuel enriched to the level of the TRR fuel, but provided no
additional details (“Nuclear Chief: Iran Sees No Reason For Suspending Fordo Activities,” Iranian Students News
Agency, April 8, 2012).
98
Iranian Students News Agency, April 8, 2012.
99
GOV/2012/23. Iran has experimented with a variety of advanced centrifuges. A June 2009 report from ElBaradei
stated that Iran was testing four other more-advanced centrifuges; Iran informed the IAEA in February 2012, according
to a report from Amano issued that month.
100
Analyst interview with U.S. official, June 25, 2009; “Iran May Be ‘Struggling’ with New Nuclear Machines,”
Reuters, February 28, 2012.
101
For example, then-Atomic Energy Organization head Aghazadeh indicated in February 2009 that at least one new
type of centrifuge would be installed in the “near future” (Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, February 25, 2009).
Then-Atomic Energy Organization head Salehi stated in a December 2009 interview that Iran hopes to have the new
types of centrifuges operational by early 2011. (“Iran to Produce New Generation of Centrifuges - Nuclear Chief,” Fars
News Agency, December 18, 2009.)
102
Final Report of the Panel of Experts Established Pursuant to Resolution 1929 (2010), S/2012/395, June 12, 2012.
103
Unless otherwise noted, this section is based on a September 21, 2009 letter from Iran to the IAEA and September
25, 2009, background briefings from U.S. officials, along with associated Obama administration talking points.
104
GOV/2012/23.
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“the facility could be reconfigured to contain centrifuges of more advanced types should Iran take
a decision to use such centrifuges in the future.”105
As noted, Iran revealed in September 2009 that it had been constructing the facility; Tehran
provided some details that month about the facility to the IAEA. The United States had been
“observing and analyzing the facility for several years,” according to September 25, 2009, Obama
administration talking points, which added that “there was an accumulation of evidence” earlier
in 2009 that the facility was intended for enriching uranium. Some of this evidence apparently
indicated that “Iran was installing the infrastructure required for centrifuges earlier” in 2009. U.S.
officials have not said exactly when Iran began work on the facility, which is “located in an
underground tunnel complex on the grounds of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” base near
the Iranian city of Qom. Nevertheless, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, rather than the
Iranian military, is responsible for the development and management of the facility, according to
September 2009 U.S. government talking points.
According to a November 2009 report from former IAEA Director-General ElBaradei, Iran
informed the IAEA that construction on the site began in the second half of 2007.106 However, the
agency has information that appears to contradict Tehran’s claim and has asked Iran to provide
more information about the facility’s chronology.107
U.S. officials have suggested that the facility may have been part of a nuclear weapons program.
President Obama stated on September 25, 2009, that “the size and configuration of this facility is
inconsistent with a peaceful program.” But the administration’s talking points were somewhat
more vague, stating that the facility “is too small to be viable for production of fuel for a nuclear
power reactor,” although it “could be used” for centrifuge research and development or
“configured to produce weapons-grade uranium.” The facility “would be capable of producing
approximately one weapon’s worth” of HEU per year, according to the talking points.108
Iran’s failure to inform the IAEA of the Fordow plant’s existence until well after Tehran had
begun constructing it has raised concerns that the country may have other covert nuclear
facilities. A November 2009 IAEA Board of Governors resolution stated that Iran’s declaration of
the Fordow facility “reduces the level of confidence in the absence of other nuclear facilities and
gives rise to questions about whether there are any other [undeclared] nuclear facilities under
construction in Iran.” More recently, UK Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt told Parliament in
February 2012 that the Fordow facility “which Iran initially kept secret from the IAEA, also
raises our concerns that there may also be other, undeclared sites in Iran that could be engaged in
work” related to nuclear weapons.109
105
GOV/2009/74.
Ibid.
107
Majlis speaker Ali Larijani, who was formerly Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, indicated September 27, 2009, that
Iran had been constructing the facility for approximately three years. (“Iran Speaker Says Country has Fully Mastered
Nuclear Technology,” Islamic Republic News Agency, September 27, 2009).
108
Such estimates depend on several variables, including the number and type of centrifuges used, as well as the degree
to which the uranium hexafluoride feedstock is enriched. This particular estimate appears to assume the use of 3,000
IR-1 centrifuges; the other assumed parameters are unclear. For more information on the facility’s potential weaponsgrade HEU production capability, see Iran’s Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Capabilities: A Net Assessment,
February 2011, p.67.
109
“Written Answers to Questions,” Daily Hansard, February 7, 2012.
106
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Tehran’s shifting explanations regarding the facility’s purpose have also raised concerns that Iran
may use it in the future to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. Iran’s 2009 letter to the
IAEA described the Fordow facility as a “new pilot fuel enrichment plant” that would produce
uranium enriched to no higher than five percent uranium-235. Tehran has since changed the
plant’s stated purpose several times. As noted, Tehran has most recently told the IAEA that the
facility will be configured to produce both uranium enriched to five percent uranium-235 and 20
percent uranium-235. Apparently suggesting that Iran might later produce uranium containing
higher levels of uranium-235, a U.S. official told the IAEA Board of Governors March 8, 2012,
that “[w]e cannot help but wonder... whether Iran has finally informed us of the ultimate purpose
of this facility.”110
For its part, Iran has asserted that the facility is for peaceful purposes and that the government has
acted in accordance with its international obligations. As noted, Tehran argues that it is producing
enriched uranium containing up to 20 percent uranium-235 for use as fuel in research reactors,
which will be used to produce isotopes for medical purposes. Regarding the facility’s secret
nature, Iranian officials have argued that Tehran was not previously obligated to disclose it to the
IAEA.111 Furthermore, Iranian officials have stated on several occasions that the facility was
concealed in order to protect it from military attacks.112 Moreover, Iran told the IAEA in 2009 that
the Fordow facility is to serve as a “contingency enrichment plant, so that the enrichment
activities shall not be suspended in the case of any military attack.” 113 The Natanz commercial
facility “was among the targets threatened with military attacks,” Iran explained. Moreover,
Iranian officials stated during a June 2012 meeting with the P5+1 that the Fordow facility is “not
a military base” and is “not located on a military base.”114
Enriched Uranium Containing Up To 20 Percent Uranium-235
As noted, Iran argues that it is producing uranium enriched up to 20 percent uranium-235 for use
in research reactors; as of mid-May 2012, Tehran had used the Natanz commercial facility and the
Fordow facility to produce a total of 145.6 kilograms of the material, 43 kilograms of which is
being prepared for use as fuel in the Tehran Research Reactor. However, the production of
uranium enriched to this level is potentially significant because relatively little additional effort
would be required to use this uranium to produce weapons-grade enriched uranium (which
contains about 90 percent uranium-235). However, Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper suggested during a February 16, 2012, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that “a
number of factors” could impede Tehran’s ability to produce weapons-grade HEU from uranium
enriched to 20 percent uranium-235.
Only 101 kilograms of this enriched uranium is available to be further enriched, at least in the
near term.115 Iran would need approximately 215 kilograms of uranium hexafluoride containing
110
“U.S. Statement to the Board of Governors on Iran,” March 8, 2012.
For more information, see CRS Report R40094, Iran’s Nuclear Program: Tehran’s Compliance with International
Obligations, by Paul K. Kerr.
112
See, for example, “Iranian Nuclear Negotiator Says 5+1 Talks ‘Positive’,” Islamic Republic of Iran News Network,
October 1, 2009.
113
GOV/2009/74.
114
“Full Text of Iran’s Proposals to Six World Powers in Moscow Talks,” Fars News Agency, July 7, 2012.
115
In addition to the 43 kilograms of this material which is being prepared for use as fuel, Iran has altered another 1.6
kilograms of the material, which now contains less than five percent uranium-235.
111
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20 percent uranium-235 in order to produce approximately 27.8 kilograms of uranium containing
90 percent uranium-235, which the IAEA considers to be the minimum sufficient amount of
weapons-grade HEU for a nuclear weapon. This is a conservative estimate; the specific
characteristics of Iran’s enrichment facilities may necessitate more such material.
Possible Future Enrichment Facilities
In addition to the Fordow facility, Iranian officials have indicated that Tehran intends to construct
ten additional centrifuge plants—a goal that many analysts argue is virtually unachievable. Thenhead of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi stated in December 2009 that Iran is
investigating locations for the sites.116 Current Atomic Energy Organization Head Abbasi argued
in February 2012 that “mastering” centrifuge enrichment technology would enable Iran to
“develop [centrifuge] sites in various locations to avoid any threat by foreign enemies.” Iranian
officials have denied that they have other undisclosed enrichment-related facilities117 and no
British, French, or U.S. officials have disclosed evidence of such Iranian facilities since Iran
acknowledged the Fordow facility. Furthermore, according to Colin Kahl, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January 2012, there is no evidence that Iran has
clandestine enrichment facilities.118
Sustainable Progress?
A senior U.S. intelligence official said on December 3, 2007, that a country needs to be able to
“operate large numbers of centrifuges for long periods of time with very small failure rates” in
order to be able to “make industrial quantities of enriched uranium.”119 The NIE stated that Iran
still “faces significant technical problems operating” its centrifuges. Nevertheless, a 2008 report
to Congress submitted by the Deputy Director for National Intelligence described the amount of
LEU that Iran produced in 2008 as a “significant improvement” over the amount it had produced
in 2007.120 Moreover, data from IAEA Director-General Amano’s reports published during the
second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012 indicate that Iran’s daily production of LEU at its
commercial enrichment facility has been increasing since mid-August 2011. However, according
to data from reports by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) published
during the first half of 2012, the average per-centrifuge performance at that facility has
fluctuated121 and a May 2012 ISIS report stated that Iran’s “IR-1 centrifuge performance is
116
Fars News Agency, December 18, 2009.
See, for example, Press Conference with Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister for Foreign Affairs of The Islamic Republic
of Iran, Federal News Service, October 1, 2009.
118
Kahl, Foreign Affairs, January 17, 2012.
119
Background Briefing with Senior Intelligence Officials, December 3, 2007.
120
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and
Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering 1 January to 31 December 2008.
121
David Albright, Paul Brannan, and Christina Walrond, ISIS Analysis of IAEA Iran Safeguards Report: Production of
20% Enriched Uranium Triples; Iran Increases Number of Enriching Centrifuges at Natanz FEP by Nearly 50% and
Signals an Intention to Greatly Expand the Number of Centrifuges at Both Natanz and Fordow; Advanced Centrifuge
Program Appears Troubled, Institute for Science and International Security, February 24, 2012; David Albright, Paul
Brannan, Andrea Stricker, Christina Walrond, and Houston Wood, Preventing Iran From Getting Nuclear Weapons:
Constraining Its Future Nuclear Options, Institute for Science and International Security, March 5, 2012; David
Albright, Andrea Stricker, and Christina Walrond, ISIS Analysis of IAEA Iran Safeguards Report: Production of 3.5%
Enriched Uranium Increases Significantly; Iran Continues to Increase its Stock of 19.75% LEU; Rapid Installation of
Large Numbers of IR-1 Centrifuge Outer Casings Not a Prelude to Dramatically Increased Centrifuge Deployment at
(continued...)
117
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improving, although still below par.” The report attributed the increased LEU production to a
greater number of operating centrifuges. It is important to note that calculating the average
performance of Iran’s centrifuges is more difficult without information about the Natanz
commercial facility’s average product enrichment level, which has not been reported by Amano
since November 2010 - about the time when Iran began operating 174-centrifuge cascades.
The extent to which Iran’s progress is sustainable is open to question. Former Pakistani nuclear
official Abdul Qadeer Khan described Pakistan’s first-generation centrifuges as “unsuccessful” in
a 1998 interview.122 Furthermore, Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic
Studies observed that “[i]t can be years before it is clear whether an enrichment programme is
working well,” observing that centrifuges at a Japanese enrichment facility “started to crash seven
years after installation.”123 And, as noted, Iran has had difficulty in developing and deploying
more-advanced centrifuges. Nevertheless, historical experience indicates that sustained operation
of gas centrifuges appears to be a manageable task for governments with even modest technical
capabilities. According to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission document, some centrifuges of
simple design “have operated 30 years with a failure rate of less than one percent.”124 (Also see
“Effects of Sanctions and Sabotage Against Iran’s Enrichment Program”).
Uranium Conversion
As noted, uranium conversion is a process whereby uranium oxide is converted into several
compounds, including uranium hexafluoride – the feedstock for Iran’s centrifuges. In addition to
its centrifuge work, Iran produced approximately 541 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride
between March 2004 and August 10, 2009.125 Iran has not produced any uranium hexafluoride
since August 2009, according to IAEA reports. Although Tehran informed the IAEA in July 2011
that it would restart the production of uranium hexafluoride using domestically-produced uranium
oxide,126 Iran has not yet done so. Tehran has transferred domestically-produced uranium oxide to
the uranium conversion facility, but the government has told the IAEA that the material will be
used to produce uranium dioxide. Iran may be storing unenriched uranium hexafluoride in tunnels
at Esfahan.127
(...continued)
Natanz or Fordow; Advanced Centrifuge Program Still Troubled But Makes Some Progress, Institute for Science and
International Security, May 25, 2012
122
“A Talk with A.Q. Khan: Pakistan’s Top Nuclear Scientist Talks About Nuclear Weapons,” Jane’s Foreign Report,
July 24, 1998.
123
Mark Fitzpatrick, The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: Avoiding Worst-Case Outcomes, Adelphi Paper 398, International
Institute for Strategic Studies, May 2008, p. 50.
124
USNRC Technical Training Center: Uranium Enrichment Processes, Module 4.0 of the Uranium Enrichment
Processes Directed Self-Study Course 9/08 (Rev 3), Directed Self Study. The document appears to have been published
in 2008.
125
Based on data from GOV/2009/74.
126
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, GOV/2011/29, May 24, 2011.
127
CRS analyst interview with knowledgeable former U.S. official, March 7, 2012. According to a March 2005
statement from then- IAEA Deputy Director-General Pierre Goldschmidt, Iran told the IAEA in December 2004 that it
was constructing a tunnel for storing nuclear material in a more secure fashion. (Mr. Pierre Goldschmidt, Statement to
the IAEA Board of Governors, March 1, 2005).
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The 2012 report from the UN Panel of Experts concluded that, based on data from Amano’s
February 2012 report, Iran “has an ample supply of uranium hexafluoride to maintain current
levels of enrichment for the foreseeable future.”128 However, Iran’s supply of imported uranium
oxide is dwindling; according to a report from the Director of National Intelligence to Congress
covering 2011, “Iran has almost exhausted” this supply.129 According to the 2012 UN Panel
report, “a number” of governments believe that Tehran is “seeking new sources of uranium ore to
supply its enrichment efforts,” adding that “the Panel is not aware of any confirmed cases of
actual transfers.” Prior to 2009, Tehran apparently improved its ability to produce centrifuge
feedstock of sufficient purity for light-water reactor fuel; a May 2010 IAEA report indicates that
Iran is purifying its centrifuge feedstock. 130 131 Whether Iran is currently able to produce
feedstock pure enough for weapons-grade HEU is unclear, however.
Plutonium
Iran acknowledged to the IAEA in 2003 that it had conducted plutonium-separation
experiments—an admission which aroused suspicions that Iran could have a program to produce
plutonium for nuclear weapons. The IAEA, however, continued to investigate the matter, and
ElBaradei reported in August 2007 that the agency has resolved its questions about Iran’s
plutonium activities.132 The 2007 NIE stated that “Iran will not be technically capable of
producing and reprocessing enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015.” But, as noted
above, Iran says that it does not plan to engage in reprocessing, and numerous IAEA reports have
noted that the agency has found no evidence that Iran is engaging in any such activities. IAEA
Director-General Amano’s November 2011 report described an “absence of any indicators that
Iran is currently considering reprocessing irradiated nuclear fuel to extract plutonium.”133
Arak Reactor
Iran says that its heavy-water reactor, which is being constructed at Arak, is intended for the
production of medical isotopes. According to a May 5, 2008, presentation by Ambassador
Soltanieh, the reactor is to substitute for the “outdated” Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), which
has been in operation since 1967.134 As noted, Iran has since decided to re-fuel the TRR.
However, the Arak reactor is a proliferation concern because its spent fuel will contain plutonium
better suited for nuclear weapons than the plutonium produced by light-water moderated reactors,
such as the TRR and Bushehr reactor. In addition, Iran will be able to operate the reactor with
128
Panel of Experts, 2012.
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and
Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering 1 January to 31 December 2011.
130
IISS Strategic Comments, “Nuclear Iran: How Close Is It?,” September 2007; Paul Kerr, “Iran Continues Security
Council Defiance,” Arms Control Today, June 2007; analyst interview with State Department official October 28,
2008.
131
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2010/28, May 31, 2010. A footnote in the report states that some enriched uranium hexafluoride “was present in
the feed purification cylinder.”
132
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2007/48, August 30, 2007.
133
GOV/2011/65.
134
“Iran’s Exclusively Peaceful Nuclear Programs and Activities,” Briefing for NGOs, May 5, 2008.
129
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
natural uranium, which means that it will not be dependent on supplies of enriched uranium. Iran
has told the IAEA that the reactor is scheduled to begin operating in 2013.135 An Iranian heavywater production plant located near Arak “appears to be in operation,” according to Amano’s May
2012 report.136
Bushehr Reactor
Iran is also beginning to operate a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power reactor located near the city of
Bushehr moderated by light water. The original German contractor, which began constructing the
reactor in 1975, abandoned the project following Iran’s 1979 revolution. Russia agreed in 1995 to
complete the reactor, but the project has since encountered repeated delays; both Russian and
Iranian officials have attributed the project delays to technical issues. In February 2005, Moscow
and Tehran concluded an agreement stating that Russia would supply fuel for the reactor for 10
years. Atomstroyexport sent the first shipment of LEU fuel to Iran on December 16, 2007, and the
reactor received the last shipment near the end of January 2008. The fuel, which is under IAEA
seal, will contain no more than 3.62 percent uranium-235, according to an Atomstroyexport
spokesperson.137 The fuel has since been loaded into the reactor and, as of late April 2012, the
reactor was “operating at 75 percent of its nominal power,” according to Amano’s May 2012
report.
The United States had previously urged Moscow to end the project, citing concerns that it could
aid an Iranian nuclear weapons program by providing the country with access to nuclear
technology and expertise.138 However, U.S. officials said in 2002 that Washington would drop
these public objections if Russia took steps to mitigate the project’s proliferation risks; the 2005
deal requires Iran to return the spent nuclear fuel to Russia.139 This measure is designed to ensure
that Tehran will not separate plutonium from the spent fuel. Moscow also argues that the reactor
will not pose a proliferation risk because it will operate under IAEA safeguards. It is worth noting
that light-water reactors are generally regarded as more proliferation-resistant than other types of
reactors. Although the UN Security Council resolutions restrict the supply of nuclear-related
goods to Iran, they do permit the export of nuclear equipment and fuel related to light-water
reactors.
135
GOV/2012/23.
Ibid.
137
“Atomstroyexport Completes Latest Shipment of Fuel to Bushehr Nuclear Plant,” Interfax, December 28, 2007.
138
For example, then- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Marshall Billingslea testified before the Senate July 29,
2002, that the United States was “concerned that the Bushehr nuclear power project is, in reality, a pretext for the
creation of an infrastructure designed to help Tehran acquire atomic weapons.” Similar concerns are expressed in a
2005 State Department report (Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament
Agreements and Commitments, U.S. Department of State, August 2005, p.77.) Then-Undersecretary of State for
International Security and Arms Control John Bolton told the House International Relations Committee in June 2003
that Iran could build “over 80 nuclear weapons” if it had access to sufficient fuel, operated the reactor for five to six
years, and chose to withdraw from the NPT. During a June 12, 2008, House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, thenActing Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Rood agreed with a Department of
Energy assessment that the reactor’s spent fuel would contain enough plutonium for between 50 and 60 nuclear
weapons. These estimates assume that Iran possesses a reprocessing facility, but the country does not have such a
facility.
139
Estimates for the length of time the spent fuel must stay in Iran to cool range from two to five years. See Paul Kerr,
“Iran, Russia Reach Nuclear Agreement,” Arms Control Today, April 2005.
136
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Fuel Manufacturing Plant
Iran is continuing work on a fuel manufacturing plant that, when complete, is to produce fuel for
the Arak and Darkhovin reactors.140 The plant has produced fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor
and has started the process of producing fuel for the Arak reactor.141
Uranium Mines
Iran has a uranium mill and an open-pit uranium mine located at a site called Bandar Abbas,
which is also sometimes referred to as Gchine. The IAEA assesses that these facilities are
currently operating, according to the most recent reports from Amano. Iran has also told the IAEA
that it is developing a uranium mine at a site called Saghand, as well as constructing an associated
uranium mill called the Ardakan Yellowcake Production Plant. Iranian officials acknowledge that
the country’s uranium deposits are insufficient for its planned nuclear power program. 142 These
reserves are sufficient, however, to produce 250-300 nuclear weapons, according to a past U.S.
estimate.143
Effects of Sanctions and Sabotage on Iran’s
Enrichment Program
Sanctions and apparent sabotage are two methods the international community has employed to
impede Iran’s nuclear program.
Sanctions
According to various sources, international sanctions have made it difficult for Iran to obtain
components and materials for its centrifuge program. For example, the 2012 UN Panel of Experts
report observed that “[s]anctions are slowing the procurement by the Islamic Republic of Iran of
some critical items required for its prohibited nuclear programme.”144 Similarly, the Panel’s 2011
report stated that “sanctions are constraining Iran’s procurement of items related to prohibited
nuclear and ballistic missile activity and thus slowing development of these programmes.”145 In
addition, Paul Arkwright, then-Head of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Counter
Proliferation Department, stated in February 2009 that “there is some evidence that” sanctions
“have been able to slow down” Iran’s nuclear program.146 U.S. officials have also argued that the
140
“Aqazadeh: Iran Heralds Peaceful Nuclear Program,” Islamic Republic News Agency, April 8, 2008.
GOV/2012/23
142
Installation of centrifuges continues in Natanz - Iran nuclear official,” Iranian Students News Agency, April 17,
2007; Thomas W. Wood, Matthew D. Milazzo, Barbara A. Reichmuth, and Jeffrey Bedell, “The Economics Of Energy
Independence For Iran,” Nonproliferation Review, Vol. 14, No. 1, March 2007.
143
Paul Kerr, “Iran Nuclear Abilities Limited,” Arms Control Today, September 2005.
144
Panel of Experts, 2012.
145
Panel of Experts Established Pursuant to Resolution 1929 (2010): Final Report, June 2011.
146
House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Global Security: Non–Proliferation Fourth Report of Session
2008–09, June 14, 2009.
141
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sanctions are impeding Iran’s ability to acquire technology for its nuclear programs. State
Department Special Advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control Robert Einhorn told a
Washington audience in March 2011 that “[w]e believe Iran has had difficulty in acquiring some
key technologies and we judge this has had an effect of slowing some of its programs.”147
Similarly, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon argued in November 2011 that “[s]anctions
and export control efforts have made it more difficult and costly for Iran to acquire key materials
and equipment for its enrichment program, including items that Iran can’t produce itself.”148
However, the extent to which sanctions have slowed Tehran’s program is unclear. Donilon also
cited “mistakes and difficulties in Iran,” as obstacles to the progress of Iran’s nuclear program.
Indeed, former IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen stated that “[w]e do not know”
whether Iran’s delays in deploying advanced centrifuges are attributable to “lack of raw materials
or design problems,” according to a February 2012 press report.149 Furthermore, reports from the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence covering 2009, 2010, and 2011 stated that “some
obstacles slowed” the progress of Iran’s nuclear program during those years, but the report did not
name those obstacles.150
Iran has, in recent years, tried to improve its capabilities to produce materials and components for
its centrifuge program, according to Heinonen.151 However, Iranian officials have suggested that
Tehran is not yet-self-sufficient in manufacturing all of the necessary centrifuge components.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization head Abbasi stated during a February 15, 2012, television
broadcast that “Iran could not claim that it did not need other countries” for its enrichment
program, adding that “domestic production of all items was not economically viable.”152 Indeed,
Iran has apparently continued its attempts to obtain items for its nuclear program from foreign
suppliers, according to a November 2011 State Department fact sheet153 and the 2012 Panel of
Experts report.154 (See 0).
147
Robert J. Einhorn, “Solving the Iranian Nuclear Puzzle” Briefing Series, Arms Control Association, March 9, 2011.
Tom Donilon, “Iran And International Pressure: An Assessment Of Multilateral Effort To Impede Iran’s Nuclear
Program,” The Brookings Institution, November 22, 2011.
149
“Iran May Be ‘Struggling’ with New Nuclear Machines,” Reuters, February 28, 2012.
150
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and
Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering 1 January to 31 December 2009; Unclassified Report to Congress on the
Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering
1 January to 31 December 2010; Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering 1 January to 31 December 2011.
151
Analyst interview January 18, 2012.
152
“Nuclear Chief Says West Aware of Significance of Iran Achievements,” Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Network 2, February 15, 2012. Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA appeared to suggest in a March 2012 statement to the
Agency’s Board of Governors that Iran cannot produce all of the necessary centrifuge components. (Statement by H.E.
Ambassador Soltanieh, Resident Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the IAEA, before the IAEA Board of
Governors, March 8, 2012).
153
Executive Order 13382 Designations on Iran Fact Sheet, November 21, 2011. The fact sheet states that “Iran uses a
wide network of procurement agents to procure items, equipment, and technology in support of this illicit nuclear
program.”
154
The report has a list of such items on pages 15 and 16.
148
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
Sabotage
There have been allegations of efforts by the United States and other governments, including
Israel, to sabotage Iran’s centrifuge program, but the extent to which any of these efforts have
affected Tehran’s nuclear program is unclear. The New York Times reported in January 2009 that
such efforts have included “undermin[ing] electrical systems, computer systems and other
networks on which Iran relies,” according to unnamed senior U.S. and foreign government
officials.155 One effort involved foreign intelligence services sabotaging “individual power units
that Iran bought in Turkey” for Tehran’s centrifuge program. “A number of centrifuges blew up,”
according to the Times.156 Western governments have reportedly made other efforts to sabotage
centrifuge components destined for Iran, according to some non-governmental experts.157
Additionally, New York Times reporter James Risen wrote in 2006 that, according to unnamed
U.S. officials, the United States engaged in a covert operation to provide Iran with flawed
blueprints for a device designed to trigger a nuclear explosion.158 There have also been reports
that the United States and Israel have executed cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Perhaps
the best known of these utilized the Stuxnet computer worm, which was discovered in 2010 and
probably developed by a government to attack Iran’s enrichment facilities.159 Moreover, some
governments have reportedly assassinated Iranians associated with Iran’s nuclear program.160
Furthermore, the United States may have obtained information from Iranian officials who
defected as part of a CIA program to induce them to do so. 161
Nuclear Weapon Development Capabilities
Statements from the U.S. intelligence community indicate that Iran has the technical capability to
produce nuclear weapons. For example, a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) assessed that
“Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons if
it decides to do so.”162 More recently, Director of National Intelligence Clapper stated during a
155
David E. Sanger, “U.S. Rejected Aid for Israeli Raid on Nuclear Site,” New York Times, January 11, 2009.
David E. Sanger and William J. Broad, “U.S. Sees an Opportunity to Press Iran on Nuclear Fuel,” New York Times,
January 3, 2010. Iranian officials alluded to this incident, according to a January 2007 Iranian press report (Ayande-ye
Now, January 6, 2007).
157
James Blitz, Roula Khalaf, and Daniel Dombey, “Suggestions of Iran Nuclear Sabotage,” Financial Times, July 22,
2010.
158
James Risen, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration (New York: Free Press),
2006.
159
David Albright, Paul Brannan, Andrea Stricker, Christina Walrond, and Houston Wood, Preventing Iran From
Getting Nuclear Weapons: Constraining Its Future Nuclear Options, Institute for Science and International Security,
March 5, 2012; R Scott Kemp, “Worm Holes - Virus Attacks Iran’s Enrichment Operation,” Jane’s Intelligence
Review, September 15, 2011; David E. Sanger, “Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran,” New York
Times, June 1, 2012; Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, Julie Tate, “U.S. and Israel Created ‘Flame’,” Washington Post,
June 20, 2012. For more information about Stuxnet, see CRS Report R41524, The Stuxnet Computer Worm: Harbinger
of an Emerging Warfare Capability, by Paul K. Kerr, John Rollins, and Catherine A. Theohary.
160
See, for example, Ulrike Putz, “Sabotaging Iran’s Nuclear Program,” Der Spiegel, August 2, 2011; Artin Afkhami,
“Tehran Abuzz as Book Says Israel Killed 5 Scientists,” New York Times, July 11, 2012.
161
Greg Miller, “CIA Has Recruited Iranians to Defect; The Secret Effort Aims to Undermine Tehran’s Nuclear
Program,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2007.
162
Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities, November 2007.
156
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
January 31, 2012, Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing that Iran has the “capacity to
eventually produce nuclear weapons” and “is keeping open the option to develop” such weapons.
Obtaining fissile material is widely regarded as the most difficult task in building nuclear
weapons. As noted, Iran is enriching uranium, but whether and to what extent Tehran has taken
the other steps necessary for producing a nuclear weapon is unclear. A November 2008 report
from former IAEA Director-General ElBaradei points out that the IAEA, with the exception of a
document related to uranium metal, has “no information ... on the actual design or manufacture
by Iran” of components, nuclear or otherwise, for nuclear weapons. 163However, according to
IAEA Director-General Amano’s November 2011 report, the IAEA has “credible” information
that Iran has carried out activities “relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.”164
These include acquisition of “nuclear weapons development information and documentation” and
work to develop “an indigenous design of a nuclear weapon including the testing of components.”
Although some of these activities have civilian applications, “others are specific to nuclear
weapons,” the report notes.165 Most of the report provides additional details about Iranian
activities applicable to nuclear weapons development that were described in previous IAEA
reports, although it did contain some previously-unreported material. 166 An April 2012
Department of Defense report described Amano’s report as containing “extensive evidence of past
and possibly ongoing Iranian nuclear weapons-related research and development work.”167 (See
Appendix B for more details about the IAEA’s information regarding suspected military aspects
of Iran’s nuclear program.)
Amano’s November 2011 report states that, according to information available to the agency,
Iranian activities related to building a nuclear explosive device “took place under a structured
programme” prior to the end of 2003. That program, however, “was stopped rather abruptly
pursuant to a ‘halt order’ instruction issued in late 2003 by senior Iranian officials,” the report
says. Nevertheless, “[t]here are also indications that some activities relevant to the development
of a nuclear explosive device continued after 2003, and that some may still be ongoing,”
according to the report.
According to some non-governmental organization reports, the IAEA has assessed that Iran “has
sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device
based upon HEU as the fission fuel.”168 However, these reports cite information from an internal
2009 IAEA document which ElBaradei has described as
163
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007),1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General,
GOV/2008/59, November 19, 2008.
164
GOV/2011/65.
165
An annex to the report details these activities and provides a detailed explanation of the suspected weapons
program’s organizational structure.
166
For example, the IAEA had previously reported documentation of an undisclosed Iranian uranium conversion
project and an undisclosed missile re-entry vehicle program. However, the November report describes documents
obtained by the IAEA after May 2008 which “established a connection” between the two programs. Similarly, the
annex also describes information provided by an unnamed government which contains additional details about Iranian
experiments with high explosives.
167
Department of Defense, Annual Report on Military Power of Iran, April 2012.
168
Excerpts from Internal IAEA Document on Alleged Iranian Nuclear Weaponization, Institute for Science and
International Security, October 2, 2009. Colin H. Kahl, Melissa G. Dalton, and Matthew Irvine, Risk and Rivalry Iran,
Israel and the Bomb, Center for a New American Security, June 2012.
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Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status
a rolling text complied by the Agency’s Department of Safeguards that included all the
various pieces of information that had come in from different intelligence organizations,
most of which IAEA inspectors had been unable to verify or authenticate ... by definition, it
was a series of best guesses.169
The IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards at the time had neither “assessed” nor “signed
off on” the document, ElBaradei added.
For its part, the U.S. government assesses that Iran has not mastered “all the necessary
technologies” for building a nuclear weapon, a senior administration official stated during a
November 8, 2011, briefing about Amano’s November 2011 report.170 During the same briefing, a
senior administration official explained that “the fact that some activities have apparently
continued after the full-scale program was shut down in 2003 suggests that there’s been some
advancement” in Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, but “since it appears to be relatively
uncoordinated and sporadic activity ... the advancement probably hasn’t been that dramatic.”
Perhaps reinforcing this point, Director Clapper stated during the February 2012 Senate Armed
Services Committee hearing that “there are certain things” that Iran has not yet done to develop a
nuclear weapon, but he did not elaborate.
Amano’s November 2011 report states that, according to a member of a “clandestine nuclear
supply network” run by former Pakistani nuclear official Abdul Qadeer Khan, Iran “had been
provided with nuclear explosive design information.” However, this information may not be
sufficient to produce a nuclear weapon. Although Khan’s network supplied Libya with
“documents related to the design and fabrication of a nuclear explosive device,” according to the
IAEA,171 these documents lacked “important parts” for making a nuclear weapon, according to
ElBaradei.172 In addition to the documents supplied to Tripoli, members of the Khan network also
had computer files containing “drawings for the components of two smaller, more advanced
nuclear weapons”173 However, according to former IAEA Deputy Director-General Olli
Heinonen, these “detailed designs” were not “complete sets” of weapons design information.
Other members of the network could have possessed more complete nuclear weapons designs, he
said.174
169
Mohamed ElBaradei, The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times, (New York,, Metropolitan
Books, Henry Holt and Company), 2011, pp. 290.
170
“Press Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on IAEA Report on Iran’s Nuclear Activities,” November 8,
2011.
171
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, GOV/2008/39,
September 12, 2008.
172
Mohamed ElBaradei , The Age of Deception, p.155. The International Institute for Strategic Studies described the
design as “95% complete” (Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A.Q. Khan and the Rise of Proliferation Networks,
(London: The International Institute for Strategic Studies), 2007, p. 79). Khan told a former member of his network that
the plans that he had provided to Libya were “for a non-working nuclear device” (Extract from the Statement of Sayed
Abu Tahir Bin Bukhary, June 7, 2006, Annexure L in Plea and Sentence Agreement, State vs. Geiges, Wisser, and
Krisch Engineering, September 2007). A report from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence organization published in
September 2011 argued that neither the technical assistance nor centrifuge components provided by the Khan network
were sufficient “for the establishment of a small pilot [centrifuge] plant or to produce nuclear weapons.” (“The A.Q.
Khan Report by Pakistan ISI,” September 15, 2011).
173
David Albright, Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America’s Enemies, The Institute for Science
and International Security, 2010. p.151.
174
Interview with CRS analyst, August 4, 2011.
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Timelines
A senior intelligence official explained during a December 2007 press briefing that the
“acquisition of fissile material ... remains the governing element in any timelines” regarding
Iran’s production of a “nuclear device.”175 According to the 2007 NIE, “centrifuge enrichment is
how Iran probably could first produce enough fissile material for a weapon.” Secretary of
Defense Leon Panetta told 60 Minutes January 29, 2012, that, if Iran decided to build a nuclear
weapon, “it would probably take them about a year to be able to produce a bomb and then
possibly another one to two years in order to put it on a deliverable vehicle of some sort in order
to deliver that weapon.” 176 However, Director of National Intelligence Clapper indicated during
the February 2012 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that it would more likely take Iran
longer than a year to produce a nuclear weapon after making a decision to do so.177 Although, as
noted, the United States estimates that Iran’s Fordow enrichment facility “would be capable of
producing approximately one weapon’s worth” of HEU per year, whether and how that
assessment factors into the U.S. timelines for Iranian nuclear weapons development is unclear.178
The 2007 NIE added that “the earliest possible date Iran would be technically capable of
producing enough HEU for a weapon is late 2009.”179 This date, however, “is very unlikely,” the
estimate says, adding that “Iran probably would be technically capable of producing enough HEU
for a weapon sometime during the 2010-2015 time frame.” But the State Department Bureau for
Intelligence and Research, the estimate says, judged that Tehran “is unlikely to achieve this
capability before 2013”180 and all intelligence agencies recognized “the possibility that this
capability may not be attained until after 2015.”181
Some independent experts have published estimates for the amount of time necessary for the
Natanz facility to produce enough HEU for a weapon—a process that would require Iran to
reconfigure the cascades, and further enrich the uranium.182 As noted, Tehran had, as of May 11,
2012, produced an amount of enriched uranium hexafluoride containing up to five percent
uranium-235 which, if further enriched, could theoretically produce enough HEU for at least four
175
“Unclassified Key Judgments of the National Intelligence Estimate: Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities,”
Background Briefing with Senior Intelligence Officials, December 3, 2007.
176
Transcript of remarks by Secretary Panetta from CBS’s 60 Minutes interview, January 29, 2012.
177
These estimates probably assume that Iran would use its declared centrifuge facilities to produce fissile material; the
other assumptions behind them are not clear. For a detailed discussion of the variables such estimates must take into
account, see International Institute for Strategic Studies, February 2011, pp.69-70.
178
See “Fordow Enrichment Facility” section.
179
This time frame describes the point at which Iran could have enough HEU for a weapon, rather than when Iran
could start producing HEU.
180
In responses to Questions for the Record from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which were made
public in August 2009, the Director for National Intelligence stated that the Bureau continues to stand by this estimate.
181
The time frame described in the 2007 NIE is the same as one described in a 2005 NIE.
182
See, for example, R. Scott Kemp and Alexander Glaser, “Statement on Iran’s Ability to Make a Nuclear Weapon
and the Significance of the 19 February 2009 IAEA Report on Iran’s Uranium-Enrichment Program,” March 2, 2009
(available at http://www.princeton.edu/~rskemp/can-iran-make-a-bomb.pdf); R. Scott Kemp, “Update On Iran’s Ability
to Make a Nuclear Weapon and the Significance of the 5 June 2009 IAEA Report on Iran’s Uranium-Enrichment
Program,” June 17, 2009; Albright and Shire, June 5, 2009; and David Albright, Paul Brannan, and Jacqueline Shire,
Nuclear Weapon Breakout Scenarios: Correcting the Record, March 18, 2009 (available at
http://www.isisnucleariran.org/assets/pdf/Correcting_the_Record.pdf). Shutting off some valves in Iran’s centrifuge
facilities may also be a viable option.
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nuclear weapons.183 Iran did not, as of May 11, 2012, yet possess sufficient uranium hexafluoride
containing about 20 percent uranium-235 to yield a sufficient amount of weapons-grade HEU for
a weapon. Although the IAEA considers approximately 27.8 kilograms of uranium containing 90
percent uranium-235 to be the minimum sufficient amount of weapons-grade HEU for a nuclear
weapon, Tehran would likely need to produce more uranium-235 in order to produce its first
nuclear weapon; according to a 2011 International Institute for Strategic Studies report, “the
fabrication of an initial bomb would involve an amount of unavoidable wastage.” 184 Then-Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl explained during a November 15, 2011, hearing that
“the time to actually complete a testable [Iranian nuclear] device could shrink over time.”185
Asked why, despite the estimates described above, Iran has not developed a nuclear weapon, Kahl
noted that such estimates assume an Iranian decision to produce a nuclear weapon. “There’s no
evidence” that Tehran has made such a decision, he added.
The U.S. estimates described above apparently assume that Iran would use its declared nuclear
facilities to produce fissile material for a weapon. However, the 2007 NIE states that Iran
“probably would use covert facilities—rather than its declared nuclear sites—for the production
of highly enriched uranium for a weapon.” Similarly, a CIA report covering 2004 concluded that
“inspections and safeguards will most likely prevent Tehran from using facilities declared to the
IAEA directly for its weapons program as long as Iran remains a party to the NPT” 186
Iran would probably prefer to avoid using its safeguarded facilities partly because the IAEA
would likely detect an Iranian attempt to use them for producing weapons-grade HEU. According
to former Deputy Assistant Secretary Kahl, Tehran “is unlikely to dash for a bomb in the near
future because IAEA inspectors would probably detect Iranian efforts to divert low-enriched
uranium and enrich it to weapons-grade level at declared facilities.”187 Similarly, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Media Operations John Kirby told reporters December 21, 2011, that,
were Iran to begin producing a nuclear weapon, IAEA inspectors would likely give sufficient
warning for the United States to take action. Former IAEA Deputy Director-General Olli
Heinonen observed in November 2010 that Iran would probably be caught if it attempted to divert
more than “small quantities” of nuclear material from its safeguarded nuclear facilities.188
Moreover, it would be extremely difficult to reconfigure the cascades in the Natanz facility
183
The U.S. statement to the June 2012 IAEA Board of Governors meeting described this quantity as “enough for
several nuclear weapons if further enriched to higher levels” (Robert Wood, Chargé d'Affaires, U.S. Mission to the
IAEA, Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of United Nations Security Council
Resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, IAEA Board of Governors Meeting, June 4-8, 2012).
184
Iran’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Capabilities: A Net Assessment, 2011.
185
Panel II of a Hearing of the National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Subject: Progress of the Obama Administration’s Policy Toward
Iran. November 15, 2011
186
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and
Advanced Conventional Munitions, January 1-December 31, 2004.
187
Colin Kahl, “Before Attacking Iran, Israel Should Learn From Its 1981 Strike On Iraq,” The Washington Post,
March 2, 2012.
188
Heinonen described “small quantities” as “one gram or a hundred grams” – far less than the amount necessary for a
nuclear weapon. Arms Control Association, “The Status of Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Programs,” Transcript,
November 22, 2010. The Verification Research, Training, and Information Centre assessed in 2009 that “any diversion
of more than 48 grams of low enriched uranium would raise the alarm and trigger an in-depth [IAEA] investigation”
(Andreas Persbo, Safeguards in Iran: Prospects and Challenges, presentation given to “Prospects for Dialogue in the
Middle East,” British Pugwash, April 30, 2009).
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without detection189 and, in any case, IAEA inspectors measure the isotopic content of enriched
uranium and would thereby detect Iranian production of weapons-grade HEU.
Although Iran could decide to eject IAEA inspectors and/or withdraw from the NPT, such a move
would be “an incredibly provocative action and very risky for Iran to undertake,” Department of
State Special Advisor Einhorn argued in March 2011, adding that Iran is unlikely to take such a
risk because its operating first-generation centrifuges are inefficient.190 Such an action would also
be virtually unprecedented.191
A senior intelligence official explained in December 2007192 that Iran could use knowledge
gained from its Natanz facilities at covert enrichment facilities; according to the NIE, a “growing
amount of intelligence indicates Iran was engaged in covert uranium conversion and uranium
enrichment activity,” but Tehran probably stopped those efforts in 2003. “There is no evidence
that Iran has built additional covert enrichment plants,” according to Kahl, who added that the
time needed for Iran to develop nuclear weapons in this manner “could be years off.” 193
Does Iran Have a Nuclear Weapons Program?
In addition to the possible nuclear weapons-related activities discussed above, Iran has continued
to develop ballistic missiles, which could potentially be used to deliver nuclear weapons. It is
worth noting, however, that Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair indicated during a
March 10, 2009, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Iran’s missile developments do
not necessarily indicate that the government is also pursuing nuclear weapons, explaining that “I
don't think those missile developments ... prejudice the nuclear weapons decision one way or
another. I believe those are separate decisions.” Iran is developing missiles and space launch
vehicles “for multiple purposes,” he added.
In any case, Tehran’s nuclear program has also raised concerns for various other reasons. First,
Iran has been secretive about the program. For example, Tehran hindered the IAEA investigation
by failing to disclose numerous nuclear activities, destroying evidence, and making false
statements to the agency.194 Moreover, although Iran’s cooperation with the agency has improved,
the IAEA has repeatedly criticized Tehran for failing to cooperate fully with the agency’s
investigation of certain issues concerning Iran’s nuclear program.
Second, many observers have questioned Iran’s need for nuclear power, given the country’s
extensive oil and gas reserves. The fact that Tehran resumed its nuclear program during the Iran189
For more details about cascade configuration, see Houston G. Wood, Alexander Glaser, and R. Scott Kemp, “The
Gas Centrifuge and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation,” Physics Today, September 2008; International Institute for
Strategic Studies, Iran’s Strategic Weapons Programmes: A Net Assessment, (UK: Routledge, 2005), pp. 53-54.
190
Transcript available at http://www.armscontrol.org/events/RoleSanctionsIranNuclear.
191
No state that has been found in good standing with the IAEA has ever used this tactic. North Korea restarted its
nuclear weapons program after announcing its withdrawal from the NPT in 2003, but the IAEA has never completed an
assessment of that country’s nuclear activities.
192
Background Briefing with Senior Intelligence Officials, December 3, 2007.
193
Kahl, Foreign Affairs, January 17, 2012.
194
For example, Iran sanitized a facility where Iranian scientists had enriched uranium, falsely told the IAEA that it had
not enriched uranium, and falsely claimed that it had not procured any foreign components for one of its centrifuge
programs.
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Iraq war has also cast doubt on the energy rationale. Furthermore, many countries with nuclear
power reactors purchase nuclear fuel from foreign suppliers—a fact that calls into question Iran’s
need for an indigenous enrichment capability, especially since Russia has provided fuel for the
Bushehr reactor. Moreover, Iranian officials acknowledge that Iran lacks sufficient uranium
deposits for its planned nuclear power program.195
However, Iran maintains that its enrichment program has always been exclusively for peaceful
purposes; as noted, the Iranian government says that it plans to expand its reliance on nuclear
power in order to generate electricity. Some experts have documented Tehran’s projected
difficulty in exporting oil and natural gas without additional foreign investment in its energy
infrastructure.196 Iran has explained its covert nuclear procurement efforts by arguing that it has
been forced to conceal these efforts in order to counter Western efforts to deny it nuclear
technology—a claim that appears to be supported by a 1997 CIA report.197
Tehran argues that it cannot depend on foreign suppliers for such fuel because such suppliers have
been unreliable in the past.198 At least one expert has described Iran’s inability to obtain nuclear
fuel from an international enrichment consortium called Eurodif. During the 1970s, Iran had
reached an agreement with Eurodif that entitled Iran to enriched uranium from the consortium in
exchange for a loan.199 Former Atomic Energy Organization head Aghazadeh has also argued that,
although Iran does not need to produce fuel for the Bushehr reactor, the Natanz facility needs to
be completed if it is to be able to provide fuel for the planned Darkhovin reactor.200
Iran’s stated rationale for its Arak reactor has also been met with some skepticism. Tehran says it
needs the reactor to produce medical isotopes and to replace the Tehran Research Reactor.
However, that reactor is capable of producing such isotopes and has unused capacity.
Furthermore, as noted, Iran has expressed the desire to obtain more fuel for the reactor. In
addition, non-proliferation experts have argued that the new reactor would be unnecessary for
producing such isotopes.201
195
Iranian Students News Agency, April 17, 2007. Wood, et al, Nonproliferation Review, March 2007.
See, for example, U.S.-Iranian Engagement: The View from Tehran, International Crisis Group, June 2, 2009; Roger
Stern, “The Iranian Petroleum Crisis and United States National Security,” Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of America, January 2007; and George Perkovich and Silvia Manzanero, “Plan B: Using Sanctions to End
Iran’s Nuclear Program,” Arms Control Today, May 2004. Projections of Iranian oil depletion are not new. A 1975
U.S. government report stated that “Iran has decided now to introduce nuclear power to prepare against the time –
about 15 years in the future – when Iranian oil production is expected to begin to decline sharply.” (“Report of the
NSSM 219 Working Group Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with Iran,” April 1975).
197
CIA, Report of Proliferation-Related Acquisition in 1997. The report says that Iran had responded to “Western
counterproliferation efforts by relying more on legitimate commercial firms as procurement fronts and by developing
more convoluted procurement networks.”
198
For an official Iranian perspective on the issue, see The Root Cause of Iran’s Confidence Deficit vis a vis Some
Western Countries on Assurances of Nuclear Fuel Supply, INFCIRC/785, March 2, 2010. Perhaps significantly, Iranian
officials argued for an independent fuel production capability during the 1970s; see U.S. Embassy Tehran Airgram A76 to State Department, “The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,” April 15, 1976.
199
Oliver Meier, “Iran and Foreign Enrichment: A Troubled Model,” Arms Control Today, January/February 2006.
200
“Iran to Follow Nuclear Timetable Regardless of IAEA Reports – Official,” Islamic Republic of Iran News Network,
February 25, 2009.
201
Robert J. Einhorn, “Iran’s Heavy-Water Reactor: A Plutonium Bomb Factory,” November 9, 2006, available at
http://www.armscontrol.org/pressroom/2006/20061109_Einhorn.asp?print.
196
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U.S. Government Estimates
Since at least 2007, the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Iran has not decided
whether to develop nuclear weapons. According to the 2007 NIE, “Iranian military entities were
working under government direction to develop nuclear weapons” until fall 2003, after which
Iran halted its nuclear weapons program “primarily in response to international pressure.” The
NIE defines “nuclear weapons program” as “Iran’s nuclear weapon design and weaponization
work and covert uranium conversion-related and uranium enrichment-related work.” The NIE
adds that the intelligence community also assessed “with moderate-to-high confidence that
Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons.”202 The NIE also
states that, because of “intelligence gaps,” the Department of Energy and the National
Intelligence Council assessed “with only moderate confidence that the halt to those activities
represents a halt to Iran’s entire nuclear weapons program.” The NIE added that “[s]ince fall
2003, Iran has been conducting research and development projects with commercial and
conventional military applications—some of which would also be of limited use for nuclear
weapons.”
The NIE also states that “Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less
determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005.”203 The change in
assessments, a senior intelligence official said December 3, 2007, was the result of “new
information which caused us to challenge our assessments in their own right, and illuminated
previous information for us to be able to see it perhaps differently than we saw before, or to make
sense of other data points that didn’t seem to self-connect previously.”204 According to press
accounts, this information included various written and oral communications among Iranian
officials which indicated that the program had been halted.205 As noted, the United States may
also have obtained information from Iranian officials who defected as part of a CIA program to
induce them to do so,206 as well as from penetration of Iran’s computer networks.207 Additionally,
202
Prior to the NIE, some non-governmental experts had argued that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program.
See, for example, Paul Kerr, “Divided From Within,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November/December 2006;
Jeffrey Lewis, “Iran Roundup: Negotiations and Wonkporn,” July 27, 2005, available at
http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/703/iran-roundup-negotiations-and-wonkporn; and George Perkovich, Changing
Iran’s Nuclear Interests, Policy Outlook, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2005, available at
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/PO16.perkovich.FINAL2.pdf.
203
Although the 2005 NIE stated that “Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons despite its international
obligations and international pressure,” that assessment was somewhat qualified. Titled “Iran’s Nuclear Program: At A
Crossroads,” the estimate stated that Iran was not “immovable” on the question of pursuing a nuclear weapons program
and also addressed the possibility that Tehran may not have had such a program. Moreover, the word “determined” was
used in lieu of “pursuing” a nuclear weapon because the authors believed the latter to be a stronger term. The NIE was
issued as a Memorandum to Holders of NIE 2001-15HC, “Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program: Multifaceted and Poised
to Succeed, But When?”
204
Background Briefing with Senior Intelligence Officials, December 3, 2007.
205
Dafna Linzer and Joby Warrick, “U.S. Finds that Iran Halted Nuclear Arms Bid in 2003,” Washington Post,
December 4, 2007; Greg Miller, “Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions on Hold, U.S. Agencies Conclude,” Los Angeles Times,
December 4, 2007; David E. Sanger and Steven Lee Myers, “Details in Military Notes Led to Shift on Iran, U.S. Says,”
New York Times, December 6, 2007; Peter Baker and Dafna Linzer, “Diving Deep, Unearthing a Surprise; How a
Search for Iran’s Nuclear Arms Program Turned Up an Unexpected Conclusion,” Washington Post, December 8, 2007.
206
Miller, Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2007.
207
David Sanger and William Broad, “U.S. and Allies Press Iran over Nuclear Plant ‘Deception’,” The New York
Times, September 26, 2009.
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the NIE also incorporated open-source information, such as photographs of the Natanz facility
that became available after members of the press toured the facility.
According to the 2007 NIE, the intelligence community assesses “with moderate-to-high
confidence that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.” The community assesses “with low
confidence that Iran probably has imported at least some weapons-usable fissile material,” but
still judges “with moderate-to-high confidence” that Tehran still lacks sufficient fissile material
for a nuclear weapon.
On several occasions, the U.S. intelligence community has reaffirmed the 2007 NIE’s assessment
that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program but is keeping its options open.208 Leon Panetta,
then-Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, did so in May 2009.209 Moreover, press
accounts indicated that, as of September 2009, the community did not believe that Tehran has
restarted its weapons program.210 The late-September 2009 revelation of the Fordow facility has
increased suspicions that Iran may have restarted its nuclear weapons program; as noted, U.S.
officials have indicated that the facility is likely intended for a nuclear weapons program.
Nevertheless, administration talking points made public September 25, 2009, stated that the
intelligence community still assessed that “Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.”
More recently, Director of National Intelligence Clapper stated during a January 31, 2012, Senate
Select Intelligence Committee hearing that, although Iran “is keeping open the option to develop”
nuclear weapons, “[w]e do not know... if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons.”211
The November 2011 report from IAEA Director-General Amano appears to support the U.S.
assessment.212 As noted, the report states that Iranian activities related to building a nuclear
explosive device “took place under a structured programme,” but senior Iranian officials ordered
a halt to the program in late 2003. Echoing the judgment of the 2007 NIE, Amano’s report
mentions “indications that some activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive
device continued after 2003,” adding that some such activities “may still be ongoing.” Most of
the activities listed in the report occurred before the end of 2003. During a November 8, 2011
briefing about Amano’s report, a senior administration official described Iran’s post-2003
weapons-related work as “a much less coordinated ... more sporadic set of research activities,”
some of which “are sort of related to nuclear weapons development.”213 As noted, an April 2012
Department of Defense report described Amano’s report as containing “extensive evidence of past
and possibly ongoing Iranian nuclear weapons-related research and development work.”214
208
See, for example, February 12, 2009 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee by Director of National
Intelligence Dennis Blair; “Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Intelligence
Committee,” February 12, 2009; and March 10, 2009 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee by
Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Maples.
209
“Remarks of Director of Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, at the Pacific Council on International
Policy,” May 18, 2009.
210
Mark Hosenball, “Intelligence Agencies Say No New Nukes in Iran: Secret Updates to White House Challenge
European and Israeli Assessments,” Newsweek, September 16, 2009; David E. Sanger, “U.S. Says Iran Could Expedite
Nuclear Bomb,” The New York Times, September 10, 2009.
211
James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, Worldwide Threat Assessment to the Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence, January 31, 2012.
212
GOV/2011/65.
213
“Press Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on IAEA Report on Iran’s Nuclear Activities,” November 8,
2011.
214
Annual Report on Military Power of Iran, April 2012.
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Some foreign intelligence agencies apparently concur with the U.S. assessment that Iran has not
yet decided to build nuclear weapons. Director of the French General Directorate of External
Security Erard Corbin de Mangoux stated in an interview published in 2010 that “[w]e do not yet
know whether Tehran’s objective is to enable itself to acquire such a capability (so-called
‘threshold status’) or actually to possess it.”215 In March 2012, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman appeared to confirm reports that Israeli intelligence shares this U.S. assessment.216
German intelligence assessments also reportedly concur with this assessment.217
Other factors also suggest that Iran may not have an active nuclear weapons program. First, as
noted, the IAEA has resolved most of the outstanding issues described in the August 2007 IranIAEA work plan. Indeed, the agency has not discovered significant undeclared Iranian nuclear
activities for several years (although, as noted above, the IAEA’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear
facilities has decreased). Second, Tehran, beginning in 2003, has been willing to disclose
previously undeclared nuclear activities to the IAEA (though, as previously discussed, Iran has
not been fully cooperating with the agency). Third, Iran made significant changes to the
administration of its nuclear program in fall 2003—changes that produced greater openness with
the IAEA and may have indicated a decision to stop a nuclear weapons program.218
Fourth, as noted above, Iranian officials have stated numerous times that Tehran is not seeking
nuclear weapons, partly for religious regions—indeed, Khamenei has issued a fatwa against
nuclear weapons, according to Iranian officials.219 A change in this stance could damage Iranian
religious leaders’ credibility. Moreover, Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for
Strategic Studies argued in May 2008 that “given the pervasive religiosity of the regime, it is
unlikely that Iran’s supreme leader would be secretly endorsing military activity in explicit
contradiction of his own religious edict.”220
Fifth, Iranian officials have made several arguments that nuclear weapons would not improve the
country’s security. They argue that Iran would not be able to compete with the arsenals of larger
countries, such as the United States.221 Moreover, Tehran has asserted that “Iran today is the
strongest country in its immediate neighborhood. It does not need nuclear weapons to protect its
regional interests.”222 The U.S.-led spring 2003 invasion of Iraq which overthrew Iraqi leader
215
Isabelle Lasserre, “Intelligence and the New Threats,” Politique Internationale, January 1-March 31, 2010.
“Israeli Foreign Minister Says Iran Nuclear Programme ‘of Military Nature,’ ” Voice of Israel, March 19, 2012. The
reports appeared in James Risen, “U.S. Faces a Tricky Task in Assessment of Data on Iran,” New York Times, March
17, 2012, and Amy Teibel, “Israelis Agree Iran Hasn't Decided on Atom Bomb,” The Associated Press, March 18,
2012.
217
“ ‘Iran Striving for Nuclear Bomb’—Security Sources: Political Decision Still Pending,” Main Frankfurter
Allgemeine, July 1, 2011.
218
This argument is explained in more detail in Kerr, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2006. For an in-depth discussion
of Iran’s nuclear decision-making process, see Abbas William Samii, “The Iranian Nuclear Issue and Informal
Networks,” Naval War College Review, Winter 2006, and Chen Kane, Nuclear Decision-Making in Iran: A Rare
Glimpse, Middle East Brief, Brandeis University: Crown Center for Middle East Studies, May 2006.
219
Statement by H.E. Dr. M. Javad Zarif, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran Before the Security
Council, December 23, 2006. Khamene’i issued a fatwa as early as 2003 against nuclear weapons, according to Iranian
officials (“Iran: Rowhani Says Khamene'i Considers Attempts To Access Nuclear Weapons ‘Religiously Illegal’,”
Islamic Republic News Agency, October 25, 2003).
220
The Iranian Nuclear Crisis, p. 13.
221
“Interview with Iran’s Ambassador to IAEA,” June 29, 2008.
222
Iran’s Permanent Mission to United Nations in New York, “An Unnecessary Crisis: Setting the Record Straight
about Iran’s Nuclear Program,” Published as advertisement in New York Times, November 18, 2005.
216
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Saddam Hussein and thereby eliminated a key rival of Iran, may also have induced Tehran to
decide that it did not need nuclear weapons. The government has also argued that a nuclear
weapons program “would be prohibitively expensive, draining the limited economic resources of
the country.”223
Living with Risk
Other findings of the NIE indicate that the international community may, for the foreseeable
future, have to accept some risk that Iran will develop nuclear weapons. According to the 2007
NIE, “only an Iranian political decision to abandon a nuclear weapons objective would plausibly
keep Iran from eventually producing nuclear weapons—and such a decision is inherently
reversible.” As noted, the estimate also asserted that “Iran has the scientific, technical and
industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so,” adding that,
“since fall 2003, Iran has been conducting research and development projects with commercial
and conventional military applications—some of which would also be of limited use for nuclear
weapons.”
This is not to say that an Iranian nuclear weapons capability is inevitable; as noted above, Iran
does not yet have such a capability. But Tehran would likely need to accept additional constraints
on its nuclear program in order to provide the international community with confidence that it is
not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Other Constraints on Nuclear Weapons Ambitions
Although the production of fissile material is widely considered to be the most difficult step in
nuclear weapons development, Iran would, even with the ability to produce weapons-grade HEU,
still face challenges in producing nuclear weapons, such as developing a workable physics
package and effective delivery vehicles. A 1978 CIA report points out that there is a
great difference between the development and testing of a simple nuclear device and the
development of a nuclear weapons system, which would include both relatively sophisticated
nuclear designs and an appropriate delivery system. 224
Moreover, Iran would face significant challenges if it were to attempt developing and producing
HEU-based nuclear weapons covertly, although, as noted, this would probably be Tehran’s
preferred option. Covert centrifuge facilities are notoriously difficult for intelligence agencies to
detect,225 but Iran may well not be able to complete a covert centrifuge facility without detection.
A 2005 International Institute for Strategic Studies report concluded that “an Iranian planner
would have little basis for confidence that significant nuclear facilities could be kept hidden.” 226
223
Ibid.
“RE: Pakistan Strong Motivatation To Develop Their Nuclear Capability,” Central Intelligence Agency, April 26,
1978. For a more detailed discussion, see Office of Technology Assessment, Technologies Underlying Weapons of
Mass Destruction (OTA-BP-ISC-115), December 1993.
225
International Institute for Strategic Studies, February 2011, p.68. See also, David Albright, Paul Brannan, and
Jacqueline Shire, Can Military Strikes Destroy Iran’s Gas Centrifuge Program? Probably Not., Institute for Science
and International Security, August 7, 2008.
226
International Institute for Strategic Studies, Iran’s Strategic Weapons Programmes: A Net Assessment, (UK:
Routledge, 2005).
224
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Tehran would need to hide a number of activities, including uranium conversion, the movement
of uranium from mines, and the movement of centrifuge feedstock.227 Alternatively, Iran could
import uranium ore or centrifuge feedstock, but would also need to do so covertly.
The difficulty of the above task becomes clearer when one considers that foreign intelligence
agencies apparently possess a significant amount of information about the Iran’s enrichment
program. First, both the Natanz and Fordow facilities were discovered by foreign governments
before they became operational. Second, the development of the Stuxnet computer worm,
discussed above, indicates that at least one foreign government possesses a large amount of
information about Iran’s centrifuge program which could not have been obtained via IAEA
reporting, according to some experts.228 Notably, National Security Advisor Donilon asserted in
November 2011 that the United States can detect any additional secret Iranian enrichment
facilities.229
It is also worth noting that Iran could produce only fairly simple nuclear weapons, which are not
deliverable by longer-range missiles, without conducting explosive nuclear tests. Such tests,
many analysts argue, would likely be detected.230 It is also worth noting that moving from the
production of a simple nuclear weapon to more sophisticated nuclear weapons could take several
additional years.231
227
The 2005 IISS report also explains that concealing a plutonium-based nuclear weapons program would be even
more difficult (pp. 62-63).
228
David Albright, Paul Brannan, Andrea Stricker, Christina Walrond, and Houston Wood, Preventing Iran From
Getting Nuclear Weapons: Constraining Its Future Nuclear Options, Institute for Science and International Security,
March 5, 2012; R Scott Kemp, “Worm Holes - Virus Attacks Iran’s Enrichment Operation,” Jane’s Intelligence
Review, September 15, 2011.
229
Donilon, November 22, 2011.
230
For a detailed discussion of this issue, see Steven A. Hildreth, statement before the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, March 5, 2008, available at
http://nationalsecurity.oversight.house.gov/documents/20080305141600.pdf. Iran is a party to the Treaty Banning
Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, also known as the Limited Test Ban
Treaty. Iran has signed, but not ratified, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The latter has not entered into
force.
231
Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential: A Joint Threat Assessment by U.S. and Russian Technical Experts, EastWest
Institute, May 2009. pp. 5-6.
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Appendix A. May 2010 Tehran Declaration
France, Russia, and the United States expressed concerns about the May 2010 agreement
concluded by Brazil, Iran, and Turkey, known as the Tehran Declaration,232 in a June 2010 joint
paper sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) titled “Concerns about the Joint
Declaration Conveyed by Iran to the IAEA”.233 This appendix describes both the concerns
expressed in the paper, as well as and differences between the October 2009 IAEA draft proposal
and the Tehran Declaration.
First, the paper notes that the declaration “does not address Iran’s production or retention” of
LEU enriched to about 20 percent uranium-235. Iran began enriching uranium to this level in
February 2010. Notably, the October 2009 IAEA draft did not include an explicit prohibition on
enriching uranium to this level. Instead, the agreement’s proponents thought that the supply of
fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) would obviate the need for Tehran to produce the
fuel.234
Second, the joint paper notes that the declaration “asserts a right for Iran to engage in enrichment
activities despite the fact that several U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit Iran from
pursuing such activities.” Presumably, the joint paper’s authors were concerned that agreeing to
the “right” asserted in the declaration could weaken the suspension provisions in the resolutions.
It is worth noting that those resolutions actually require Iran only to suspend its enrichment
activities.
Third, the paper notes that the declaration does not contain a true deadline for removing lowenriched uranium (LEU) from Iran, since such removal would depend on the conclusion of an
agreement with France, Russia, the United States, and the IAEA. However, it is unsurprising that
the declaration would lack such a deadline, since Turkey and Brazil were not negotiating on the
part of France, Russia, or the United States and, therefore, could not commit those governments
to negotiate the necessary agreement. The declaration indicates that Iran is willing to conclude
such an agreement.
Fourth, the paper notes that the declaration is ambiguous regarding Iran’s intention to discuss its
nuclear program. The declaration states that “the nuclear fuel exchange is a starting point to begin
cooperation and a positive constructive move forward among nations,” perhaps suggesting that
Tehran may be willing to resolve those issues.
Fifth, the joint paper describes the declaration’s call for all of the TRR fuel to be delivered to Iran
“in no later than one year,” as a condition that “would be impossible to meet.” The paper notes
that the draft IAEA agreement “called for initial delivery of fuel within about one year to ensure
the uninterrupted operation of the TRR, with remaining fuel to be delivered at a later date.”
Sixth, the paper states that the Tehran declaration “does not account for Iran’s accumulation of
LEU since the IAEA first proposed the TRR deal,” a fact which would decrease “the confidence232
The text is available at http://www.brasil.gov.br/news/history/2010/05/17/joint-declaration-by-iran-turkey-andbrazil?set_language=en.
233
The text appears in “Text: Powers Dismiss Iran Fuel Offer Before U.N. Vote,” Reuters, June 9, 2010.
234
Analyst interview with knowledgeable U.S. official, June 16, 2010.
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building value of the original proposal.” The October 2009 IAEA proposal called for Iran to
export 1,200 kilograms of LEU. If 1,200 kilograms of LEU had been removed from Iran as of
May 31, 2010, Tehran would still have had a quantity of LEU which, if further enriched, could
theoretically have produced enough HEU for a nuclear weapon. This would not have been the
case in fall 2009.
The joint paper notes some other differences between the Tehran declaration and the previous
proposals, but the importance of these differences is unclear. The paper states that, according to
the “previous ‘escrow’ proposal,” Iran’s LEU could be returned to the country “if the parties
failed to deliver fuel assemblies to Iran as agreed.” The declaration would allow Iran, unilaterally
and without conditions, to demand the return of its LEU. The paper also notes that the declaration
“states that Iran’s LEU would be the ‘property’ of Iran while in Turkey,” but the IAEA proposal
“stated the IAEA would maintain ‘custody’ of the LEU throughout the process.” As noted, the
Tehran declaration would provide for IAEA monitoring of the LEU in Turkey.
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Appendix B. Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s
Nuclear Program
Then-International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei told
the agency’s Board of Governors on June 2, 2008, that questions regarding “possible military
dimensions” to Iran’s nuclear program constitute the “one remaining major issue” concerning the
IAEA’s investigation of the program. A November 2011 report by current IAEA Director-General
Yukiya Amano to the IAEA board contains the most detailed account to date of the IAEA’s
evidence regarding Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons-related activities.235 Unless otherwise noted,
this appendix is based on Amano’s November 2011 report.
The IAEA has “credible” information that Iran has carried out activities “relevant to the
development of a nuclear explosive device.” Although some of these activities have civilian
applications, “others are specific to nuclear weapons,” the report notes. Most of these activities
were conducted before the end of 2003, though some may have continued. The Iranian
government managed these activities via a program structure which included “senior Iranian
figures.” Amano’s report contains a detailed description of the program’s structure, which was set
up in the late 1980s. The program’s activities were managed via an institution called the Physics
Research Center and overseen by an Iranian Ministry of Defense entity. About a decade later, the
center’s activities were consolidated under a new entity called the AMAD Plan. After the Iranian
regime halted the AMAD Plan’s work in 2003, “staff remained in place to record and document
the achievements of their respective projects,” according to information provided to the IAEA by
unnamed governments. Later, “equipment and work places were either cleaned or disposed of so
that there would be little to identify the sensitive nature of the work which had been undertaken.”
The IAEA has “other information” from governments which “indicates that some activities
previously carried out under the AMAD Plan were resumed later.” Some of these activities
“would be highly relevant to a nuclear weapon programme.”
The IAEA has information that the AMAD Plan either obtained or attempted to obtain dual-use
“equipment, materials and services which ... would be useful in the development of a nuclear
explosive device.” Additionally, the program may have conducted studies on uranium conversion,
missile reentry vehicles for delivering nuclear warheads, and conventional explosives used in
nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Explosive Device Components
The IAEA has information indicating that Iran may have conducted work on components for
nuclear weapons. Iran possesses a document “describing the procedures” for reducing uranium
hexafluoride to uranium metal, as well as “machining ... enriched uranium metal into
hemispheres,” which are “components of nuclear weapons.”236 Tehran has previously told the
IAEA that it was offered equipment for casting uranium but never actually received it.237
235
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, GOV/2011/65, November 8, 2011.
236
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737
(2006), 1747 (2007), and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV/2008/15,
May 26, 2008.
237
According to Iran, its nuclear suppliers, many of whom were affiliated with the Khan network, provided the
(continued...)
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Moreover, a member of a clandestine nuclear supply network run by former Pakistani nuclear
official Abdul Qadeer Khan told the IAEA that Iran “had been provided with nuclear explosive
design information.” However, this information may not be sufficient to produce a nuclear
weapon. (See “Nuclear Weapons Development Capabilities.”) The IAEA has also received
information from an unnamed government that Iran carried out “preparatory work, not involving
nuclear material, for the fabrication of natural and high enriched uranium metal components for a
nuclear explosive device.”
As noted, the AMAD Plan may have conducted studies on conventional explosives used in
nuclear weapons. Implosion-type nuclear explosive devices use conventional explosives to
compress a core of highly-enriched uranium or plutonium in order to start a nuclear chain
reaction. Specifically, Iran developed detonators which have limited non-nuclear applications, but
also could be used in a nuclear explosive device. Tehran also may have experimented with a
multipoint initiation system which could be used in conjunction with the detonators. Additionally,
Iran may have conducted high explosive testing, possibly in association with nuclear materials, at
a military site (see “Parchin” below). Iran also may have worked on neutron initiators, which are
used in implosion-type nuclear weapons.
Re-Entry Vehicle
As noted, the IAEA suspects that the AMAD Plan conducted studies on missile reentry vehicles
for delivering nuclear warheads. Iran may have conducted “engineering studies to examine”
integrating a payload into the re-entry vehicle of Iran’s Shahab-3 ballistic missile. Although these
activities “may be relevant to the development of a non-nuclear payload, they are highly relevant
to a nuclear weapon programme.” Iran also may have conducted work on a “prototype firing
system” that would enable a missile’s nuclear payload “to explode both in the air above a target,
or upon impact of the re-entry vehicle with the ground.”
Parchin
Parchin is an Iranian military site.238 The Institute for Science and International Security
described the complex in a 2004 report as “a huge site dedicated to the research, development,
and production of ammunition, rockets, and high explosives,” adding that the site “is owned by
Iran’s military industry and has hundreds of buildings and test sites.” 239 IAEA inspectors
previously investigated the Parchin site after receiving “information ... from a Member State in
the early 2000s alleging that Iran was conducting high explosive testing, possibly in association
with nuclear materials.”240 Such testing could contribute to the development of implosion-type
nuclear explosive devices. IAEA inspectors visited the site twice in 2005, but “did not uncover
anything of relevance.”
(...continued)
document in 1987 at their own initiative, rather than at Tehran’s request. Islamabad has confirmed to the IAEA that “an
identical document exists” in Pakistan.
238
Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh described Parchin as “a military site” in a March 2012 statement.
(Statement by H.E. Ambassador Soltanieh Resident Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the IAEA Before
the IAEA Board of Governors, March 8, 2012). Similarly, the IAEA described Parchin as a “military complex”
(GOV/2011/65).
239
David Albright and Corey Hinderstein, Parchin: Possible Nuclear Weapons-Related Site in Iran, Institute for
Science and International Security, September 15, 2004.
240
GOV/2011/65.
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Parchin is not under IAEA safeguards. However, the IAEA wants Tehran to respond to
information which the agency obtained from unnamed governments indicating that “Iran
constructed a large explosives containment vessel” in 2000 at Parchin “in which to conduct
hydrodynamic experiments.”241 Such experiments are conducted to validate the design of an
implosion-type nuclear weapon and are “strong indicators of possible weapon development.” The
report does not say whether Iran actually conducted these experiments at Parchin. The IAEA has
also asked Iran to provide agency inspectors with access to the facility. The inspectors in 2005 did
not visit “the location now believed to contain the building which houses the explosives
chamber.”242
Other Issues
The IAEA has asked Tehran about other indications, some of which do not appear in Amano’s
November 2011 report, suggesting that the country may have pursued nuclear weapons.243 These
include
•
“information about a high level meeting in 1984 on reviving Iran’s pre-revolution
nuclear programme”;
•
“the scope of a visit by officials” associated with Iran’s Atomic Energy
Organization “to a nuclear installation in Pakistan in 1987”;
•
information on 1993 meetings between Iranian officials and members of a
clandestine procurement network run by former Pakistani nuclear official Abdul
Qadeer Khan;
•
information about work done in 2000 which apparently related to reprocessing;
•
Iranian scientists’ mathematical research with nuclear weapons applications; and
•
information indicating that Iran “may have planned and undertaken preparatory
experimentation which would be useful were Iran to carry out a test of a nuclear
explosive device.”
241
GOV/2011/65. The report also notes that the IAEA “has obtained commercial satellite images that are consistent
with this information. From independent evidence ... the Agency has been able to confirm the date of construction of
the cylinder and some of its design features.”
242
GOV/2011/65.
243
The first four items are discussed in GOV/2008/15. The last two items are in GOV/2011/65.
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Appendix C. Iranian Centrifuge Workshops and
Related Entities
This appendix lists Iranian entities which appear to manufacture centrifuges or related
components.244 It also includes some entities which appear to conduct work closely related to
these activities. The appendix excludes entities which have only been identified as involved in
procuring materials or components for Iran’s centrifuge program. This list is probably not
exhaustive and at least some of the publicly-available information about Iran’s centrifuge
workshops may be outdated. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors had access
to Iranian centrifuge workshops until early 2006 in order to verify the October 2003 agreement
under which Iran suspended its enrichment program. However, the agency’s knowledge of Iran’s
workshops has deteriorated since Iran ended this access in early 2006. Since then, Iran may well
have moved centrifuge-related work to other locations245 and has likely built more such
workshops.246
Kalaye Electric
UN Security Council Resolution 1737 describes Kalaye Electric, which is located in Tehran, as a
“provider” to Iran’s pilot centrifuge facility located at Natanz. According to an August 2008
Institute for Science and International Security report, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
(AEOI) controls the country’s centrifuge program, but the program “is operated by the Kalaye
Electric Company.”247 The report stated that
Even today, the centrifuge program still acquires vacuum pumps and much of its measuring
equipment via illicit trade with foreign suppliers. Work at Kalaye Electric is aimed at
creating an indigenous capability to make this equipment and reduce its dependence on
smuggling, which has become more difficult under increased economic sanctions. However,
it is unknown which Iranian facilities would make vacuum or measuring equipment.
A European Union Council regulation adopted in December 2011 describes several entities as
current suppliers to Kalaye Electric, suggesting that the company was involved in Iran’s
centrifuge program at that time.248
244
For this appendix, CRS consulted IAEA reports, European Council documents, U.S. Department of the Treasury
documents, a 2008 report from the Institute for Science and International Security, and relevant United Nations
Security Council resolutions.
245
A former top Middle East intelligence analyst at the Department of State, expressed concern in 2006 that Tehran
could be moving some components related to its nuclear program . See Paul Kerr, “News Analysis: IAEA Limits Leave
Iran Intel Gaps,” Arms Control Today, October 2006.
246
A U.S. official told CRS in April 2011 that there “could be lots of workshops” in Iran. And a former U.S.
government official with direct experience on the issue told CRS in February 2012 that Iran’s centrifuge production is
widely distributed and that the number of workshops has probably multiplied “many times” since 2005 because of an
increase in Iranian contractors and subcontractors working on the program.
247
David Albright, Paul Brannan, and Jacqueline Shire, Can Military Strikes Destroy Iran’s Gas Centrifuge Program?
Probably Not, Institute for Science and International Security, August 7, 2008.
248
Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 503/2011 Implementing Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 on Restrictive
Measures Against Iran, May 23, 2011.
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7th of Tir
Resolution 1737 describes this entity, which is located in Esfahan, as “directly involved” in Iran’s
nuclear program. 7th of Tir was involved in manufacturing centrifuge components, according to
the ISIS report, which added that Iran moved “the key centrifuge manufacturing equipment and
components to Natanz and other AEOI sites” when the IAEA began monitoring the 2003
suspension agreement. Whether and to what extent the facility is still involved in manufacturing
centrifuge components is unknown, the report says.
Farayand Technique
Resolution 1737 describes this entity, which is located in Esfahan, as “involved in” Iran’s
centrifuge program. The facility was involved in “making and assembling” centrifuge
components, according to the 2008 ISIS report. According to a 2010 European Council
regulation, another entity, called the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, “has taken over the
activities of Farayand Technique,” which include “manufactur[ing] uranium enrichment
centrifuge parts.”249
Iran Centrifuge Technology Company
As noted, this entity, which is apparently located in Esfahan, “has taken over the activities of
Farayand Technique,” which include “manufactur[ing] uranium enrichment centrifuge parts,”
according to the 2010 European Council regulation.250
Pars Trash
Resolution 1737 describes this entity, which is located in Tehran, as “involved in” Iran’s
centrifuge program. According to the ISIS report, the company manufactured centrifuge
components. The report does not say whether Pars Trash is still involved in Iran’s centrifuge
program.
Kaveh Cutting Tools Company
This entity, according to the 2008 ISIS report, manufactured centrifuge components. The
company is “part of” Khorasan Metallurgy Industries, the ISIS report says. Both of these entities
are located in Mashad. Khorasan Metallurgy Industries is “involved in the production of
centrifuge components,” according to the 2010 European Council regulation.
Khorasan Metallurgy Industries
This entity, which is located in Mashad, is “involved in the production of centrifuge
components,” according to the 2010 European Council regulation.
Sanam Electronic Industry Group
249
Council Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 on Restrictive Measures Against Iran and Repealing Regulation (EC) No
423/2007, October 25, 2010.
250
Ibid.
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Located in Tehran, this entity was, according to ISIS, “involved in making centrifuge
components.”
Abzar Boresh Kaveh Company
UN Security Council Resolution 1803, which the Council adopted in 2008, describes this
company as “[i]nvolved in the production of centrifuge components.” CRS could not determine
its location.
Parto Sanat Company
The 2010 European Council regulation describes this company, which is located in Tehran, as a
“[m]anufacturer of frequency changers... capable of developing/modifying imported foreign
frequency changers in a way that makes them usable in gas centrifuge enrichment.”
Eyvaz Technic
The 2011 European Council regulation states that, as recently as 2011, this company, which is
located in Tehran, supplied equipment relevant to centrifuge operations to Iran’s Natanz and
Fordow centrifuge facilities.
Ghani Sazi Uranium Company
According to the 2011 European Council regulation, this company, which is located in Tehran
“has production contracts” with Kalaye Electric and Iran Centrifuge Technology Company.
Iran Pooya
The 2011 European Council regulation describes this entity as “a major manufacturer of
aluminium cylinders for centrifuges whose customers include” the AEOI and Iran Centrifuge
Technology Company. CRS could not determine its location.
Mohandesi Toseh Sokht Atomi Company
The 2011 European Council regulation describes this company, which is located in Tehran, as
“contracted to” Kalaye Electric “to provide design and engineering services across the nuclear
fuel cycle.” The company has “[m]ost recently ... been procuring equipment for the Natanz
uranium enrichment site,” according to the regulation.
Saman Nasb Zayendeh Rood
The 2011 European Council regulation describes this company, which is located in Esfahan, as a
“[c]onstruction contractor that has installed piping and associated support equipment at the
uranium enrichment site at Natanz.” The company “has dealt specifically with centrifuge piping,”
according to the regulation.
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Appendix D. Post-2003 Suppliers to Iran’s Nuclear
Program
Iran has obtained components, expertise, and material for its nuclear program from a variety of
foreign sources. Tehran sought assistance for the program from the Russian and Chinese
governments,251 but also obtained relevant components, expertise, and material via deceptive
procurement techniques.252 Perhaps Iran’s best-known source was a clandestine procurement
network run by former Pakistani nuclear official Abdul Qadeer Khan. This network began
supplying Iran’s centrifuge program in 1987,253 but U.S. and Pakistani officials have
characterized the network as defunct since Pakistan publicly revealed the network in early
2004.254
It is worth noting that, according to former Deputy Director General of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) Olli Heinonen,255 the IAEA has not determined the source of material that
Iran obtained for its advanced centrifuges; CRS has not found additional information on this
subject.
Methodology
Because the original Khan network appears to be defunct, this appendix focuses on post-2003
suppliers to Iran’s enrichment program. To obtain the information for this appendix, CRS
reviewed official U.S. government reports,256 as well as lists of entities sanctioned by the United
States and the European Union since early 2004.257 CRS also reviewed public information from
the Department of Justice, reports from a UN Panel of Experts, and selected non-governmental
reports.258 In order to identify suppliers germane to this appendix, CRS excluded Iranian entities
or nationals, Iranian ships under foreign flags, and entities associated with the Khan network.
251
A Russian entity agreed during the 1990s to provide Iran with a centrifuge facility but later canceled the transaction.
See Robert J. Einhorn and Gary Samore, “Ending Russian Assistance to Iran’s Nuclear Bomb,” Survival, Summer
2002. The United States dissuaded China in 1997 from supplying Iran with a uranium conversion facility, although Iran
did receive blueprints for the facility. See Report of Proliferation-Related Acquisition in 1997, and Implementation of
the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737 (2006) and 1747 (2007)
in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report by the Director General, GOV 2007/58, November 15, 2007.
252
According to Report of Proliferation-Related Acquisition in 1997, “Tehran is attempting to acquire fissile material
and technology for weapons development and has set up an elaborate system of military and civilian organizations to
support its effort.”
253
Iran began obtaining centrifuge-related technology from non-Khan network sources in 1985. See David Albright,
Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America’s Enemies (New York: Free Press), 2010, pp. 70-73.
254
For more information, see CRS Report RL34248, Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues,
by Paul K. Kerr and Mary Beth Nikitin.
255
Analyst interview January 18, 2012.
256
State Department reports to Congress covering 2004 through 2008 (submitted pursuant to Section 1308 of the
Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003; CRS does not have the report covering 2006); State
Department reports reviewing countries’ compliance with international arms control and nonproliferation agreements
covering between 2004-2010 and December 31, 2008; and intelligence community reports mandated by section 721 of
the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 covering 2004 – 2010.
257
Specially Designated Nationals List and lists of entities sanctioned pursuant to several nonproliferation laws
(available at http://www.state.gov/t/isn/c15231.htm).
258
Panel of Experts, 2011; Panel of Experts, 2012.
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This methodology has limitations. Official reports generally do not provide enough information
to identify specific suppliers to Iran’s enrichment program and Federal Register announcements
of the imposition of sanctions generally do not explain the specific transactions which warranted
the sanctions.259 Even if official reports do identify suppliers to Iran’s nuclear program, they often
do not say whether the entities were supplying Iran’s enrichment program. For example, an
October 2008 Justice Department fact sheet stated that the sales director of a California-based
corporation attempted to export illegally to Iran “machinery and software to measure the tensile
strength of steel,” explaining that these items “can make a contribution to nuclear activities of
concern.” The fact sheet, however, did not provide additional information and neither 2007
testimony from a Department of Commerce official nor a 2008 Commerce Department
announcement explained whether the exports were intended for Iran’s enrichment program.260
Similarly, a 2008 report from the Czech Republic’s Security Information Service stated that an
Iranian company “subject to sanctions because of its involvement in the Iranian nuclear program”
attempted to acquire “specific machinery” from a Czech supplier, but the report did not specify
further.261
Suppliers to Iran’s Enrichment Program
The information reviewed for this appendix indicates that Iranian-owned entities are using
deceptive means in attempts to acquire enrichment technology from foreign entities.262 However,
the sources described above contain no evidence that foreign governments are currently supplying
Iran’s enrichment program. According to a 2009 State Department report, “all major suppliers,
apart from Russia which is providing assistance to Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, have
agreed not to provide nuclear technology to Iran.”263 264 Additionally, State Department reports
covering countries’ compliance with international nonproliferation agreements between 2004 and
2010 indicate that the Chinese government is not involved in supplying Iran’s suspected nuclear
weapons program.265
Chinese Entities
Robert J. Einhorn, State Department Special Advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control,
stated in March 2011 that the United States “continue[s] to have concerns about the transfer of
259
CRS checked the lists of sanctioned entities against news reports and other sources in order to obtain additional
information.
260
Statement of Mark Foulon, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, Before Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, March 21, 2007; Order Denying Export Privileges, Bureau of Industry and
Security, January 25, 2008.
261
Annual Report of the Security Information Service (BIS) for 2008, available at http://www.bis.cz/n/ar2008en.pdf.
262
The extent to which these attempts are successful is unclear.
263
Report on the Proliferation of Missiles and Essential Components of Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and
Radiological Weapons. Report Submitted to the Congress Pursuant to Section 1308 of the Foreign Relations Act for
Fiscal Year 2003. January 2008-December 2008.
264
Previous official statements from the United States and the United Kingdom appear to support this statement with
respect to Russia. John Rood, then-Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, stated
during a June 12, 2008 House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing that the Bush administration did not believe there
was “ongoing Russian nuclear assistance [to Iran] outside of the Bushehr project” that would cause concern. Similarly,
the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated in August 2007 that the “Russian relationship with Iran in
connection with Bushehr is now the only significant foreign relationship Iran has in the nuclear field,” adding that
“[e]arlier plans for a wider Russian relationship with Iran on nuclear matters ... have been shelved.”
265
The report covering 2011 does not address this issue.
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proliferation-sensitive equipment and materials to Iran by Chinese companies.”266 Similarly, the
State Department compliance reports mentioned above indicate that unspecified non-Chinese
entities have attempted to acquire “nuclear-related” materials and equipment from Chinese
entities. Furthermore, a CIA report covering 2007 stated that “private Chinese businesses
continue to sell materials, manufacturing equipment, and components suitable for use in ballistic
missile, chemical weapon and nuclear weapon programs to North Korea, Iran and Pakistan.”267
The report did not specify further.268 It is worth noting that Chinese entities may be supplying Iran
with enrichment-related equipment obtained from Western suppliers. Indeed, according to court
documents made public in July 2012, an Iranian national attempted to obtain U.S.-origin
components for Iran’s enrichment program using entities in China and the Philippines.269
Other Suppliers
Iranian has reportedly established front companies in Turkey in order to obtain nuclear-related
items. Notably, Turkish entities were involved with the Khan network.270 Iranian entities have
also attempted to obtain nuclear-related items from companies in the Czech Republic, according
to reports from that government’s Security Information Service.271
Iran has also attempted to obtain enrichment-related equipment from suppliers in Canada and the
United States. For example, according to a January 2012 Justice Department fact sheet, a man
was sentenced in 2010 for attempting in March 2009 to export pressure transducers to Iran via
Canada and the United Arab Emirates; he had purchased the items in the United States.272
“Pressure transducers have applications in the production of enriched uranium,” according to the
fact sheet. Additionally, a California-based firm exported “vacuum pumps and pump-related
equipment to Iran through a free trade zone located in the United Arab Emirates [UAE]” between
December 2007 and November 2008. This equipment has “a number of applications, including in
the enrichment of uranium,” according to the Justice Department fact sheet. Furthermore,
declassified documents from the Canada Services Border Agency state that Iranian entities have
been attempting to acquire items from Canada for Iran’s nuclear program, though the documents
do not specifically mention Tehran’s enrichment program.273 The documents also state that
“Iranian procurement agents have ... been able to export items [from Canada],” international
266
Available at http://www.armscontrol.org/events/RoleSanctionsIranNuclear.
Director of Central Intelligence, Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, 1 January through 30 June 2007, Washington,
DC.
268
For non-official reports on Chinese suppliers to Iran’s enrichment program, see also, John Pomfret, “Chinese Firms
Bypass Sanctions on Iran, U.S. Says,” The Washington Post, October 18, 2010; and Chinese Firms Continue to Evade
Iran Sanctions, Institute for Science and International Security, October 19, 2010.
269
United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Grand Jury Indictment: United States of America v. Parviz
Khaki and Zongcheng Yi, May 7, 2012, unsealed July 12, 2012.
270
Aaron Stein, “Front Companies Use Turkey for Iran’s Nuclear Programme,” Southeast European Times, November
6, 2011; Andrea Stricker, United States Indicts Man behind Alleged Multi-Million Dollar Iranian Smuggling Network,
Institute for Science and International Security, February 11, 2011. Available at http://content.govdelivery.com/
attachments/USDHSICE/2012/07/13/file_attachments/141298/Khaki%2B_Yi_Superseding_Indictment.pdf.
271
Annual Reports of the Security Information Service (BIS) for 2008 and 2004. Available at http://www.bis.cz/
annual-report.html.
272
Summary of Major U.S. Export Enforcement and Embargo-Related Criminal Prosecutions: 2007 to the Present.
273
The Canadian press reported about the documents in August 2012 (Lee Berthiaume, “Canadian Goods Destined for
Iran’s Nuclear Program Slip Through: Documents,” Postmedia News, August 22, 2012). One document is dated
October 28, 2011. The other document is undated, but appears to have been created in 2011 or 2012.
267
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sanctions notwithstanding. The documents, however, do not specify whether exported items were
destined for Iran’s nuclear program. Moreover, as noted, court documents made public in July
2012 state that an Iranian national attempted to obtain U.S.-origin components for Iran’s
enrichment program.
Entities in the UAE were part of the Khan network and have been cited as shippers for
enrichment-related technology to Iran. Einhorn described the UAE in March 2011 as a “transshipment hub for Iran,” but added that the UAE “has also taken strong steps in recent months to
curtail illicit Iranian activities.”274 A 2011 European Council regulation identified two UAE
entities, Modern Technologies FZC and Qualitest FZE, as “[i]nvolved in procurement of
components for [the] Iranian nuclear programme,” although the regulation did not specify
whether the components were for uranium enrichment.275
274
For more information, see CRS Report R40344, The United Arab Emirates Nuclear Program and Proposed U.S.
Nuclear Cooperation, by Christopher M. Blanchard and Paul K. Kerr.
275
Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 503/2011 of 23 May 2011 implementing Regulation (EU) No 961/2010
on restrictive measures against Iran.
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Author Contact Information
Paul K. Kerr
Analyst in Nonproliferation
pkerr@crs.loc.gov, 7-8693
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