America Helps Iran Develop Its Nuclear Program
From The Atlantic
Iran’s nuclear program poses a threat to many nations–particularly Israel and the United States. Yet, it is sometimes forgotten that Washington was an early supporter of Tehran”s nuclear ambitions.
The United States provided peaceful nuclear assistance to Iran from 1957 to 1979, when the two states were allies. Washington exported the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), enriched uranium to fuel it, and “hot cells,” which can be used to produce plutonium–a critical ingredient for making nuclear weapons. All of this aid was provided for civilian uses, but it ended up indirectly augmenting Iran”s nuclear weapons program. For example, from 1988 to 1992 Iran conducted covert plutonium reprocessing experiments using fuel pellets irradiated in the TRR.
