Following the Iranian revolution that created the present regime in 1979, Iran found itself in possession of much of the infrastructure that formed the basis of its nuclear weapons program. In 1974, the Shah announced his intention to "produce roughly 23,000 megawatts of electrical power from a series of nuclear power stations within 20 years," according to a history of Iran's nuclear program compiled by Iran Watch. The U.S., the French, and several other Western European countries, eager to get in the Shah's good graces and keep the oil flowing, supplied the Iranians with a lot of what they needed...