The ex-president who gave Iran its nuclear 'starter kit' thinking it would be a good idea
Iran 's first nuclear reactor was a gift from a surprising source: the United States.
Known as the Tehran Research Reactor, it's small facility in the capital's suburbs.
It was a gift from President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1967 as part of the 'Atoms for Peace' program, which shared nuclear technology with American allies.
The reactor is used for peaceful scientific purposes, including the production of medical isotopes, and does not have weapon capabilities.
But, for Iran, it was a start.
'We gave Iran its starter kit,' Robert Einhorn, a former US arms control official involved in nuclear talks with Iran, told the New York Times.
'We weren't terribly concerned about nuclear proliferation in those days, so we were pretty promiscuous about transferring nuclear technology,' he said.
The Tehran reactor does not enrich uranium today and it's not been a target of Israeli or American airstrikes.
Eisenhower believed that sharing nuclear information would help allies with economic development and strengthen their political alignment with the United States during the Cold War era.
As part of 'Atoms for Peace,' the U.S. also provided nuclear training, equipment, and knowledge for civilian use to countries like Israel and Pakistan.
Eisenhower outlined his 'Atoms for Peace' plan in a speech to the United Nations in December 1953. He warned of the dangers of a nuclear arms race.
'It is not enough just to take this weapon out of the hands of the soldiers. It must be put into the hands of those who will know how to strip its military casing and adapt it to the arts of peace,' he said.
Washington and Tehran were close in this time period.
Iran was ruled by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, a Western-educated monarch who promoted secular reforms, Western-style education, banned the veil for women, and encouraged modern art.
Pahlavi came to power with American financial and military support.
Eisenhower visited Tehran in December 1959 and met with the Shah.
Pahlavi supported nuclear power and had Iranian scientists study the technology at MIT. In the 70s, under his leadership, Iran's investment in nuclear technology grew.
But the 1979 Iranian revolution changed things.
The revolution, fueled partly by resentment toward American support for the monarchy, brought in a new leadership under an Ayatollah who had little interest in nuclear technology.
But, after an eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini reconsidered his position.
He turned to Pakistan - another country funded by the 'Atoms for Peace' program - to help Iran build up its nuclear program, including obtaining centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels.
From then on, Iran secretly advanced its nuclear program, enriching uranium to the 90% mark so it could be used as a weapon.
By the early 2000s, two key clandestine facilities were finished, ones that contained more centrifuges and heavy water abilities to create weapons-grade uranium.
Its secret nuclear facilities were exposed in 2002.
In the aftermath, Iran, Britain, France, and Germany signed the Tehran Agreement where Tehran would suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.
But Iran was lackluster in its compliance. UN inspectors found inconsistencies and omissions in Tehran's reports on its activity.
In July 2006, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding Iran suspend its enrichment activities or face sanctions.
Iran defied the resolution and sanctions were enacted.
Then, in September 2009, under President Barack Obama, the United States exposed the existence of the Fordow nuclear facility, which was an underground enrichment site being built deep inside a mountain.
It was the revelation of Fordow and its capabilities that led to the severest economic sanctions being set on Iran.
President Donald Trump bombed that facility in Saturday night's raid.
But it's unclear how much damage was inflicted to Iran's nuclear ambitions. There are reports Tehran hid 880 pounds of enriched uranium before the bombing and that the centrifuges, hidden deep underground, survived.
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