APPENDIX I
CHRONOLOGY OF THE MAIN EVENTS IN THE PROCUREMENT
OF IRAN'S CENTRIFUGE AND URANIUM ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME
1985 = The decision was made by Iran to launch
a centrifuge enrichment programme.
1987 = Iran received drawings of the centrifuge
P-1 type along with samples of centrifuge components through a
foreign intermediary.
1988-95 = The start of the first phase of the
centrifuge programme, during which basic research and initial
development work was located mainly at the Atomic Energy Organisation
of Iran premises in Tehran, with laboratory work conducted at
the Plasma Physics Laboratories of Tehran Nuclear Research Centre.
There were also tests of centrifuge rotors at the Amir Kabir University
in Tehran and on the premises of the Atomic Energy Organisation
of Iran in Tehran without insertion of any nuclear material. Some
2,000 components and some subassemblies were obtained from abroad
through foreign intermediaries or by Iranian entities between
1993 and 1995.
1994-96 = Iran received a duplicate set of the
P-1 drawings along with components for 500 P-1 type centrifuges
as well as design drawings for a P-2 type centrifuge from foreign
sources in 1994.
1995-2002 = Prototype testing and development
work of the P-1 type centrifuges was relocated to the Kalaye Electric
Company in Tehran. Some mechanically testing of P-1 type centrifuges
as well as the testing with UF6 was carried out in 19 machines
in 1999 and 2002.
1998 = The first test of the centrifuges using
an inert gas (xenon) was conducted.
1999-2002 = Series of tests using UF6 were performed
in the centrifuges by Iran and an enrichment level of 1.2% U-235
was achieved.
2001 = Iran began the construction of two facilities
at Natanz about 250 km (150 miles) south west of the capital Tehran.
The smaller scale Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, planned to have
some 1,000 centrifuges for enrichment up to 5% U235. The large
scale commercial Fuel Enrichment Plant was planned to contain
over 50,000 centrifuges for enrichment up to 5% U-235.
2002-03 = Some basic manufacturing and mechanical
testing of a small number of modified P-2 type centrifuges was
carried out at the workshop of a private company under contract
with the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.
2003 = All centrifuge equipment related to P-2
type centrifuges were moved to Pars Trash from the private company,
which had been under the contract with the Atomic Energy Organisation
of Iran.
2003 = Research and development activities on
centrifuges were moved from the Kalaye Electric company workshop
in Tehran to Natanz about 250 km (150 miles) south west of the
capital Tehran.
25 June 2003 = Iran introduced UF6 into the
first centrifuge at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz
in a single machine testing.
19 August 2003 = Iran began the testing of a
small ten-machine cascade at Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz
using UF6.
October 2003 = Some single machine testing using
UF6 was carried out at Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz.
The installation of a 164 machine cascade was finalised.
21 October 2003 = The Iranian Government and
the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom
issued in Tehran an agreed statement on Iran's nuclear programme.
In that statement, Iran indicated that it had "decided voluntarily
to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities
as defined by the IAEA."
10 November 2003 = Iran accepted to sign the
enhanced safeguard agreement of the IAEA, known as the Additional
Protocol. Iran indicated that pending the entry into force of
Protocol, Iran would voluntarily act in accordance with the provisions
of that Protocol.
18 December 2003 = Iran signed the enhanced
IAEA safeguards measure, known as the Additional Protocol.
29 December 2003 = Iran voluntarily agreed to
suspend manufacturing, assembling and testing of gas centrifuges.
29 June 2004 = Iran resumed manufacturing, assembly
and testing of centrifuges after a voluntary suspension period
of six months.
14 November 2004 = Agreement reached between
Iran, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and the High Representative
of the European Union, so that Iran on voluntary basis and as
further confidence building measure, continue and extend its suspension
to include all enrichment related and reprocessing activities,
and specially manufacture and import of gas centrifuges and their
components, the assembly installation, testing or operation of
gas centrifuges and all tests and production for conversion at
any uranium conversion installation.
1 August 2005 = Iran notified the IAEA that
Iran had decided to resume the uranium conversion activities to
produce UF6 gas at Esfahan Uranium Conversion Facility, which
is the feed material use in the gas centrifuges at Natanz.
10-11 January 2006 = After notifying the IAEA
in the early January 2006, Iran resumed the uranium enrichment
process at the above ground Pilot Enrichment Plant after a long
voluntary suspension period which was in force since October 2003.
52 IAEA safeguards seals on the P-1 type gas centrifuges were
removed in the presence of the IAEA inspectors at Natanz, and
at two other workshops in Tehran—Pars Trash and Farayand
Technique sites.
11 January 2006 = Iran started enrichment
tests by feeding a single P-1 type machine with UF6 gas.
10 January 2006—11 February 2007 = Iran
began a substantial renovation of the gas handling system at the
Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz. Quality control of components
and some rotor testing carried out at Farayand Technique centrifuge
workshop in Tehran and at Natanz. Equipment such as process tanks
and an autoclave were moved into the underground Fuel Enrichment
Plant at Natanz.
4 February 2006 = The Board of Governors of
the IAEA decided to refer Iran's non-compliance with its IAEA
safeguards agreement to the Security Council of the United Nations.
5 February 2006 = Iran withdrew from the IAEA's
enhanced safeguards system called the Additional Protocol.
15 February 2006 = Iran began testing a 10-machine
centrifuge cascade.
22 February 2006 = Iran began testing with a
20 machine centrifuge cascade.
March 2006 = Iran completed installation of
164-machine cascade and initiated to introduce UF6 into it. Iran
also began construction of a second centrifuge cascade.
29 March 2006 = The President of the United
Nations Security of Council made a non-binding statement on behalf
of the Security Council in which it called on Iran to re-establish
full and sustained suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing
activities, including research and development, to be verified
by the IAEA.
13 April 2006 = Iran declared to the IAEA that
Iran had successfully obtained an enrichment level of 3.6% U235
in its centrifuges.
15 April 2006 = Iranian officials announced
that Iran has been engaged in the research and development of
the advanced P-2 type centrifuge, which could enrich uranium faster
than the older type P-1 design currently being installed at the
Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz.
June 2006 = Iran stated that it had achieved
enrichment levels of 5% U-235 in a test run in the 164-machine
cascade.
June-July 2006 = The period of intense diplomatic
negotiations with Iran. The permanent members of the Security
Council plus Germany (often referred to as P5+1) offered a package
of incentives to Iran in exchange for Iran's permanent suspension
of its uranium enrichment programme.
12 July 2006 = Start of the war between Lebanon
and Israel.
31 July 2006 = The United Nations Security Council
adopted resolution 1696 under Article 40, Chapter Seven of the
United Nations Charter by a vote of 14 in favour and one against
(Qatar), demanding that Iran should suspend all enrichment related
and reprocessing activities, including research and development,
to be verified by the IAEA by 31 August 2006 or face possible
economic and diplomatic sanctions under Article 41, Chapter Seven
of the United Nations Charter.
14 August 2006 = The ceasefire between Israel
and Lebanon came into effect following the UN Security Council
Resolution 1710 adopted on Friday 11 August 2007.
22 August 2006 = Iran provided a 21 pages long
counter proposal to the packaged proposal offered by the P5+1
to Iran on 6 June 2006. Iran welcomed some aspects of the P5+1
offer. Iran proposed a joint venture with the European nuclear
energy consortium EURODIF to conduct uranium enrichment on Iranian
soil. Iran indicated that it would be prepared to discuss suspension
of uranium enrichment during the negotiations and not prior to
it.
15 September 2006 = Iran's proposal for the
establishment of an international consortium was considered very
promising by the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign
and Security Policy, Javier Solana, leading to public statements
of progress following his meetings with Iran's nuclear negotiator.
4 October 2006 = Iran's proposal of 22 August
2006 was rejected by the Permanent members of the Security Council
plus Germany (P5+1) because Iran was not prepared to suspend its
uranium enrichment activities prior to the start of the negotiations.
9 October 2006 = The North Korean nuclear test.
11 October 2006 = Iran in a letter to the Secretary
General of the United Nations indicated that to address concerns
about Iran's commitment to the NPT, Iran would be prepared to
provide guarantees that it would never withdraw from the NPT,
once it reached a certain level of advancement. Iran offered to
resume the implementation of the intrusive inspection regime of
the Additional Protocol in the context of a negotiated settlement.
Using the model suggested by the IAEA experts, Iran proposed to
convert its enrichment facilities to regional and multinational
schemes, which would have provided the greatest degree of transparency
by allowing the concerned parties to participate in the ownership
and operation of these facilities.
Mid-October 2006 = Iran brought a second cascade
of centrifuges on line.
November 2006 = The mid-term elections in the
United States brought both the Congress and Senate under the control
of the Democrats who had been critical of the Bush administration's
foreign policy.
December 2006 = The publication of the recommendations
of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel of experts convened
at the request of the United States Congress, to assess the situation
in Iraq and make policy recommendations. One of the 79 recommendations
offered in the report was the need for the United States to start
negotiations with Iran to stabilise the security of Iraq.
15 December 2006 = The Assembly of Experts and
municipal councils elections were held in Iran. The religious
conservatives and reformists gained significant victory at the
expense of religious hard-line fundamentalists allied with President
Ahmadinejad.
23 December 2006 = The United Nations Security
Council unanimously adopted the legally binding resolution 1737
under Article 41 of Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter
imposing sanctions on Iran's import or export of sensitive nuclear
material and equipment and freezing the financial assets of persons
or entities supporting its proliferation sensitive nuclear activities
or the development of nuclear weapons delivery systems.
27 December 2006 = The Iranian parliament passed
a bill to oblige the government to review its cooperation with
the IAEA and accelerate Iran's nuclear programme only four days
after the imposition of sanctions on Iran by the Security Council
Resolution 1737 on 23 December 2007. The bill, which was approved
by the Council of Guardians, also permits the government to withdraw
from the NPT or to stop IAEA inspections in Iran. The bill was
passed by an overwhelming majority of 203 deputies who were present
with 161 voted in favour, and only 15 against and 15 abstained.
January 2007 = Iran started to install about
3000 centrifuges at the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz.
The centrifuges were slated to be organised into eighteen 164-machine
cascades that operated low enriched uranium, known as "module".
The underground Fuel Enrichment Plant could hold about 17-18 modules
(each module consists of 3000 cascade centrifuges) for a total
of 50,000 to 53,000 centrifuges.
22 February 2007 = Iran continued to test single
machines, as well as the 10-and 20 machine cascades and the two
164-machine cascades (one of which Iran has since disconnected)
at the above ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant.
21 February-17 March 2007 = Iran fed 4.8 kg
of UF6 into the single machines and the 10-machine cascade at
the above ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant.
Mid-February 2007 = Iran informed the IAEA that
two 164-machine cascades were installed at the underground Fuel
Enrichment Plant and that they were operating under vacuum, an
operational state established prior to enriching uranium. Two
other 164-machine cascades were in the final stages of installation.
23 February 2007 = The Director General of IAEA's
report on Iran's nuclear programme submitted to the Board of Governors
of the IAEA and to the Security Council of the United Nations.
Late February 2007 = No uranium hexafluoride
had been introduced into either of the two cascade centrifuges
which were installed and operating under vacuum at the under ground
Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz. The area where uranium hexafluoride
would be introduced was still under the IAEA seal. There were
two 164 centrifuge cascades and a few small cascades installed
at the under ground Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz.
March 2007 = The two 164 centrifuge cascades
at the under-ground Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz started to
enrich uranium periodically and produce only small amounts of
low enriched uranium. The enriched uranium product of one 164-machine
cascade was being dumped into the same tank as the waste or "tails."
The product from the second cascade was collected and saved.
24 March 2007 = The United Nations Security
Council unanimously adopted the legally binding resolution 1747
under Article 41 of Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter
imposing further sanctions on Iran.
March 2007 = Iran stated that it had plans to
complete installation of all 3,000 centrifuges at the underground
Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz in May 2007.
9 April 2007 = Dr. Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the
Director of Atomic Organisation of Iran officially announced the
industrial scale production of enrichment at the underground Fuel
Enrichment Plant in Natanz—about 250 km (150 miles) south
west of the capital Tehran, during a ceremony called "the
nuclear day", the first anniversary of uranium enrichment
in Iran. President Ahmadinejad also announced the industrial scale
production of nuclear fuel by Iran during the same ceremony.
18 April 2007 = In a letter from the IAEA to
Iran, the IAEA confirms that according to the information provided
by Iran, there are eight cascades of centrifuges (every cascade
consists of about 164 centrifuges) at the underground Fuel Enrichment
Plant (FEP) in Natanz and that some nuclear material UF6 was being
fed into those cascades. The total number of centrifuges was believed
to have been 1,312.
Mid April—13 May 2007 = Iran fed 260 kilograms
of uranium hexafluoride UF6) in the eight cascades (a total of
1,312 centrifuges) of uranium at the under-ground Fuel Enrichment
Plant in Natanz. This was the first occasion that Iran had operated
more than one cascade (164 centrifuges) simultaneously.
13 May 2007 = Iran agreed to an unannounced
(short-notice of two hours) inspection of Iran's underground uranium
enrichment facility in Natanz by the IAEA inspectors. The IAEA
found that Iran was operating eight 164-machine cascades simultaneously
(a total of 1,312 centrifuges). These centrifuges were being fed
with UF6. Two other similar cascades (164 centrifuges each) had
been vacuum tested and three more were under construction.
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