Iran's Nuclear Program

The Iranian Nuclear Program began in in the mid-1990s, starting with simple urainium enrichment. Iranian officails claimed that this enrichments was only for uses in the medical field. This nuclear enrichment raised suspicions throughout the United States government because nuclear enrichment is the first step into making a nuclear bomb. According to the New York Times on January 18, Washington officials such as Dick Cheney proposed aggresive measures involving military surges and air strikes. Secretary of State Condolezza Rice pushed for more diplomatic actions. Luckily, no violence ensued and soon, talks with Iran had been scheduled. Soon the excitement died down as no more nuclear progress was made by Iran. On January 8, BBC News reports that Iran claimed to have made nuclear breakthroughs capable of producing technology to make a nuclear bomb. In response, the United Nations and the United States set fourth yet another set of sanctions on Iran. New Yoke Times, on January 16, this fourth round of sanctions put a stop to Iran's production of nuclear fuel. While the program seem to still exsist, their progress into the creation of a nuclear bomb as slowed dramatically.