Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status - Federation of American ...

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Iran's Nuclear Program: Status Updated May 10, 2019. Congressional Research Service RL34544. Iran's Nuclear Program: Status Summary Iran's Nuclear program began during the 1950s. The United States has expressed concern since the mid-1970s that Tehran might develop Nuclear weapons. Iran's construction of gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facilities is currently the main source of proliferation concern. Gas centrifuges can produce both low-enriched uranium (LEU), which can be used in Nuclear power reactors, and weapons-grade highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is one of the two types of fissile material used in Nuclear weapons. Is Iran Capable of Building Nuclear Weapons? The United States has assessed that Tehran possesses the technological and industrial capacity to produce Nuclear weapons. But Iran has not yet mastered all of the necessary technologies for building such weapons. Whether Iran has a viable design for a Nuclear weapon is unclear. A. National Intelligence Estimate made public in 2007 assessed that Tehran halted its Nuclear weapons program in 2003.

Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status Congressional Research Service Security Council Resolution 2231, which the council adopted on July 20, 2015, compose the current legal framework governing Iran’s nuclear program.

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