Iran and weapons of mass destruction

Iran considered pursuing a nuclear deterrent when it began its nuclear programme in the 1980s, during an eight-year war with Iraq, a former president has been quoted as saying. 

Iran's test of a ballistic missile earlier this week was a clear violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution and sends "a worrying message", French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said on Oct. 15. 

After 17 days of tough negotiations, diplomats on Monday night agreed on a landmark deal aimed at preventing Iran’s nuclear program for at least a decade. Negotiators from Iran, the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China managed to strike an agreement that resolves the security threat by applying unprecedented scrutiny to Tehran’s nuclear complex.

The European Union has extended a freeze on sanctions targeting Iran by one week, EU officials said June 30, as tense talks on agreeing a nuclear deal continued in Vienna.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said June 16 that a full accounting of Iran's possible past atomic weapons research is not necessarily critical to reaching a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on April 19 the United States had created the "myth" of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week. 

Iran will insist that all sanctions against it are lifted as a condition for a nuclear deal, the foreign minister said on March 25, showing no sign of compromise on a major sticking point in its talks with world powers set to resume this week.
   

The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved an Arab-backed resolution Dec. 3 calling on Israel to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and put its nuclear facilities under international oversight.

Iran and world powers failed in an enormous diplomatic push to seal a landmark nuclear deal by a Monday deadline, deciding instead to give themselves seven more months to reach agreement.
      

Iran is failing to address suspicions it may have researched how to build an atomic bomb, a U.N. watchdog agency's report showed on Nov. 7, potentially complicating efforts by six powers to reach a deal with Tehran on its nuclear programme.