Sunday, February 12, 2012

Iran

UN Inspectors Visit Key Iran Nuclear Site

The heavy-water reactor in Arak, Iran (AFP)

July 30, 2007 -- Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reports that a group of United Nations nuclear inspectors has visited one of Iran's key nuclear sites.

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July 30, 2007

The agency said the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the heavy-water reactor site in Arak, which is currently under construction. Heavy water is used in one type of nuclear-fuel production process.

Iran agreed earlier this month to let the IAEA inspectors visit the Arak complex. The move is a key step in efforts to allay concerns about Iran's nuclear program.

On August 6, IAEA inspectors are scheduled to continue their investigation with visits to the Natanz uranium-enrichment plant and a uranium-ore conversion plant near Isfahan. The two plants conduct separate stages of the nuclear fuel-making process.

(Reuters, AFP)

Talking Technical

A control panel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant (Fars)

CASCADES AND CENTRIFUGES: Experts and pundits alike continue to debate the goals and status of Iran's nuclear program. It remains unclear whether the program is, as Tehran insists, a purely peaceful enegy project or, as the United States claims, part of an effort to acquire nuclear weapons.
On June 7, 2006, RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel spoke with nuclear expert Shannon Kile of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden to help sort through some of the technical issues involved. "[Natanz] will be quite a large plant," Kile said. "There will be about 50,000 centrifuges and how much enriched uranium that can produce [is] hard to say because the efficiency of the centrifuges is not really known yet. But it would clearly be enough to be able to produce enough [highly-enriched uranium] for a nuclear weapon in fairly short order, if that's the route that they chose to go...." (more)

Tehran Says It Is Working On Advanced Nuclear Fusion

Would Light-Water Reactor Suit Tehran's Needs?

Satellite Images Raise Questions About Iran's Nuclear Program

Centrifuges And Political Spin?

How Close Is Iran To Getting Nuclear Bomb?

Iran: The Worst-Case Scenarios

THE COMPLETE STORY: RFE/RL's complete coverage of controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear program.

CHRONOLOGY

An annotated timeline of Iran's nuclear program.

Many Iranians have been claiming that their access to social networks and Internet-based e-mail sites has been blocked in recent days.

Severe Internet Disruptions Reported In Iran

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Web-savvy Iranian oppositionists are renowned for their ability to use proxies and other means to circumvent Tehran

Explainer: Iran's National Internet

Reports that Iran has stepped up its Internet censorship in recent days -- as evidenced by a general slowdown of the web, Internet blackouts, and the blocking of sites such as Google -- has raised speculation that the country might be testing its controversial "national Internet." More

A cardboard Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini arrives in Tehran to mark the 33rd anniversary of his triumphant return to Iran following the Islamic Revolution.

Iran's 'Cardboard Khomeini' Faces Criticism, Condemnation

Iran's "Cardboard Khomeini" is fueling a firestorm of criticism in the Middle Eastern country after cutouts of the Islamic republic's founder appeared at a number of events, and photos mocking the mock-up went viral. More