History of U.S./Iranian Nuclear Talks

Much of the popular debate over Iran's nuclear program seems to neglect an important historical fact: Iran's nuclear ambitions predate the Islamic revolution. For all the apocalyptic talk that attends their nuclear pursuits, the Iranians were at work on nuclear technology while they were allied with the United States. This shouldn't necessarily make us breath any easier, but it should make us a bit more skeptical of assertions that Iran has been developing a doomsday weapon with the explicit purpose of eradicating Israel.

Either way, the National Security Archive has just published some recently declassified material on U.S./Iranian nuclear talks from the 1970s that makes for interesting reading.

Photo via Kebria used under a Creative Commons license.