Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear program has the international community up in arms, as Tehran continues to insist it is only interested in the process as a means of providing energy.
The country’s nuclear program was first launched in the 1950s, and after the overthrow of the shah, the Islamic regime actually stopped it temporarily. But the government soon resumed the program, and start-up for the country’s first nuclear power plant, at Bushehr, was in August 2010. In January 2012 international sanctions hit Iran, and the country allowed nuclear inspectors for the first time in months. However, it is reported they also started producing enriched uranium at a heavily fortified underground facility near Qum.
Here’s a look at the nuclear club the West fears Iran wishes to join.
At left, the the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in October 2010.