Iran's Nuclear Program: 1970 - 1990 Flashback

In 1974 Shaw Reza Pahlavi establishes the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and

announces plans to generate about 23,000 megawatts of energy over 20 years, including the

construction of 23 nuclear power plants and the development of a full nuclear fuel cycle. 1979:

The Iranian Revolution and the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran result in a severing of

U.S.-Iranian ties and damages Iran’s relationship with the West. Iranian nuclear projects are

halted. Conversion of the TRR is completed by Argentina’s Applied Research Institute. It now

runs on fuel enriched to just less than 20 percent, 115 kilograms of which is provided by

Argentina; the contract for the conversion was signed in 1987. Remember this was over a ten

year period…