Nuclear program of Iran
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The nuclear program of Iran is one of the most scrutinized in the world, and has sparked intense international concern. Iran asserts that its nuclear facilities are purely for civilian purposes, including energy production. Despite the end of Iran's covert nuclear weapons program in 2003, fears that Iran is moving closer to developing nuclear weapons have led to rising tensions, particularly with Israel, the United States, and European nations. Iranian nuclear facilities have been targeted by Israeli and United States military strikes in 2025 and 2026.
Development of nuclear technology began in the Pahlavi era and continued after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The United States Intelligence Community assessed in 2007 that Iran pursued nuclear weapons under the AMAD Project between the late 1980s until 2003, then ceasing its effort. Undeclared nuclear sites at Natanz and Arak were exposed in 2002, and Fordow in 2009. The program is widely believed to support deterrence from foreign aggression or domination or leverage in its negotiations with the United States, while some have argued it could increase Iran's support for terrorism or its threats against Israel.
In 2005, the IAEA Board of Governors found Iran in non-compliance with its NPT safeguards agreement and in 2006 the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) demanded Iran cease uranium enrichment and imposed sanctions. Throughout the early 2010s, US, EU, Russian and Chinese officials and analysts said Iran was pursuing nuclear latency, but not weapons possession. The US and Israel sought to covertly degrade the Iranian nuclear program, with the 1990s US Operation Merlin, the 2009 use of the jointly-developed Stuxnet computer worm, and Israeli assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010, part of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict.
In 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by Iran with the P5+1, China, France, Russia, the UK, the US, plus Germany: Iran agreed to extensive monitoring and restriction of activities at nuclear facilities in Iran including Arak, Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the plan, imposing a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions, and Iran began stockpiling enriched uranium and largely suspended IAEA monitoring.
In the late 2024, intelligence persuaded US officials Iran was exploring a cruder gun-type fission weapon, undeliverable by missile, which could be manufactured in a few weeks. Iran and the US have engaged in bilateral negotiations since April 2025, aiming to curb Iran's program for sanctions relief, though Iran's leaders have refused to stop enriching uranium. On 12 June 2025, the IAEA found Iran non-compliant with its NPT safeguards agreement for the first time since 2005. On 13 June, Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iranian military leaders, nuclear scientists, and nuclear facilities, beginning the twelve-day Iran–Israel war. On 22 June, the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites with larger bunker-buster bombs. Iran subsequently suspended operation with the IAEA. In August, France, Germany, and the UK triggered the snapback mechanism, which reinstated UN sanctions in September. In October, Iran, Russia, and China declared they viewed JCPOA terminated and the UN sanctions legally void.
In February 2026, following the largest US military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Israel and the United States launched large-scale strikes against Iran, with Iranian nuclear and missile programs as one justification.