Unless Iran responds positively to President Obama's offer of talks on its nuclear program by next month, it could face what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls "crippling sanctions." That was the message from Administration officials touring the Middle East in recent weeks. And it's backed by congressional moves to pass legislation aimed at choking off the gasoline imports on which Iran relies for almost a third of its consumption, by punishing third-country suppliers. It sounds impressive and, for an undiversified economy like Iran's, potentially calamitous. But a number of Iran analysts are skeptical that new sanctions will break the stalemate.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has promised to present a new package of proposals on the nuclear issue to Western negotiators in the coming weeks. But that package is unlikely to reflect any shift in Tehran's rejection of the U.S. demand that it forgo the right to enrich uranium as part of its nuclear-energy program. "If the U.S. position remains unchanged," says Farideh Farhi, an Iran expert at the University of Hawaii, "Iran may well come to the table, but only in order to demonstrate to its own people that its regime has been recognized, not to seriously engage with U.S. proposals or give ground."
Nuclear: 1. Bonab (38°26'N, 45°54'E)--Bonab Atomic Energy Research Center, unsafeguarded nuclear research facility
3. Chalus (36°39'N, 51°25'E)--possible underground facility
for nuclear weapons development
5. Karaj (35°49'N, 51°00'E)--Nuclear Research Center for
Agriculture and Medicine, laser enrichment equipment
5. Kolahdouz (35°44'N, 50°51'E)--possible nuclear weapons
development facility
6. Tehran (35°42'N, 51°25'E)--
Kalaye Electric Company (35°44'N, 51°34'E), centrifuge
enrichment research facility under construction; former
pilot enrichment facility
Lavisan Shiyan Technical Research Center (35°46'20"N, 51° Sharif University of Technology (35°42'10"N, 51°21'20"E),
nuclear research facility
Tehran Nuclear Research Center:
Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratories (35°44'22"N, 51°
23'18"E), experimental plutonium separation and uranium
processing
Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Facility (35°44'22"N, 51°
23'18"E), nuclear research facility
Tehran Research Reactor (35°44'18"N, 51°23'17"E), 5 MW
light water research reactor, LEU fuel (116 kg of fuel, 20%
U-235), experimental irradiation of uranium targets, under
IAEA safeguards
laser enrichment plant
7. Parchin (35°32'00"N, 51°45'07"E)--suspected testing of
explosive assemblies for nuclear weapons
10. Arak--
Arak Heavy Water Facility (34°22'12"N, 49°14'41"E),
production of heavy water for nuclear reactors
IR-40 (34°22'21"N, 49°14'26"E), plutonium production
reactor under construction
11. Natanz--
Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (33°43'33"N, 51°43'21"E),
operational pilot uranium enrichment plant, 12,000 m2 above
ground facility
Fuel Enrichment Plant (33°43'32"N, 51°43'41"E), uranium
enrichment plant under construction, 60,000 m2 underground
facility
12. Esfahan--Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (32°34'51"N,
51°49'38"E):
Miniaturized Neutron Source Reactor, 30 kW light water
research reactor, operational, HEU fuel (90% U-235), under
IAEA safeguards
Heavy Water Zero Power Reactor, 100 W heavy water research
reactor, operational, unenriched fuel (0.7% U-235), under
IAEA safeguards
Light Water Sub-Critical Reactor, research reactor,
operational
operational pilot fuel fabrication plant; fuel fabrication
plant under contruction (32°34'42"N, 51°49'39"E)
underground facilities under construction (32°35'15"N, 51°
47'49"E and 32°35'26"N, 51°49'04"E)
13. Yazd (32°29'N, 55°24'E)--uranium mining and milling
14. Darkhovin (30°44'N, 48°26'E)--possible underground
facility for nuclear weapons development
17. Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant--
BNPP Unit 1 (28°49'46"N, 50°53'08"E)--near completion, 1 GW
light reactor, LEU fuel (5% U-235) BNPP Unit 2 (28°49'38"N, 50°53'17"E)--under construction,
1.3 GW reactor
25. Neka (36°39'N, 53°18'E)--Gorgan al-Kabir Center,
possible nuclear research facility
