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Iranian Nuclear Crisis.

Iransnuclear program is one of the most polarizing issues in one of the worlds most volatile regions.

While American and European officials believe Tehran is planning to build nuclear weapons, Irans

leadership says that its goal in developing a nuclear program is to generate electricity without dipping into

the oil supply it prefers to sell abroad, and to provide fuel for medical reactors.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long expressed concern about Iran's nuclear

program, but its latest report (November 2011) lays out the case in much greater detail than before.

Drawing on evidence provided by more than 10 member states as well as its own information, the IAEA

said Iran had carried out activities "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device".

The report, the severest judgment that United Nations weapons inspectors had ever issued in their decade-

long struggle to penetrate the secrecy surrounding the Iranian program, rekindled a debate among the

Western allies and Israel about whether increased diplomatic pressure, sanctions, sabotage or military

action could stop Irans program.

In an effort to hinderIrans nuclear program, the United States and the European Union took significantsteps to cut Iran off from the international financial system, announcing coordinated sanctions aimed at itscentral bank and commercial banks. In addition, the United States also imposed sanctions on companiesinvolved in Irans nuclear industry, as well as on its petrochemical and oil industries, adding to existing

measures that seek to weaken the Iranian government by depriving it of its ability to refine gasoline orinvest in its petroleum industry.

Iran has defended its nuclear program as peaceful and has defiantly pursued uranium enrichment through

years of international pressure and sanctions. Israels increasingly urgent warnings on the need to halt

Irans nuclear progress, before it gets much closer to being able to build a bomb, have prompted concerns

that Israel might unilaterally mount a military strikeand have added to the relentless enmity between

the two.

In January 2012, 27 nations of the European Union increased pressure on Iran over its nuclear program byagreeing to ban oil imports. Under the deal, E.U. members agreed not to sign new oil contracts with Iran

and to end existing ones by July 1, according to a statement from European foreign ministers. The assetsof the Iranian central bank within the E.U. were frozen with limited exemptions to permit the continuationof legitimate trade.

On Jan. 26, the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, publicly declared his readiness for nuclear

talks. According to the Associated Press, Mr. Ahmadinejad told students in the southern city of Kermanthat he is ready for negotiations, but he said that the new sanctions would not force Iran to give in to

demands by the Western powers to end its nuclear enrichment program. However the following week,

Irans top nuclear official announced defiantly that the country was on the verge of starting production atits second major uranium enrichment site. The new facility is buried deep underground on a well-

defended military site and is considered far more resistant to airstrikes than the existing enrichment site atNatanz.

Talks between Iran and six world powers resumed in Turkey on April 14th after a 15-month gap, as

delegates sought to find ways of resolving a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program and easing fears of anew Middle East war. The talks are unlikely to yield any major breakthrough but diplomats believe a

serious commitment from Iran could be enough to schedule another round of talks for next month and

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start discussing issues at the heart of the dispute. Iran says it will propose "new initiatives" in Istanbul,though it is unclear whether it is now prepared to discuss curbs to its enrichment programme