Iran: Nuclear talks with the EU - timeline
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Timeline
- September 2007. President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad makes a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly in New York.
- August 2007. US President George W. Bush renews his accusations that Iran provided training and weapons for Shia Muslim militants fighting against the USA in Iraq.
- July 2007. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit the heavy water research reactor in the city of Arak as part of a number of Iranian concessions on nuclear issues.
- June 2007. Talks between Iran's chief negotiator on nuclear issues, Ali Larijani, and the EU high representative for foreign and security affairs, Javier Solana Madariaga, fail to produce a breakthrough.
- May 2007. Iranian and US officials meet in Baghdad (the capital of Iraq) to discuss the security crisis in Iraq, in the most high-profile and substantive contact between the two countries since the USA broke off dialogue in May 2003.
- March 2007. Iranian forces capture eight UK Royal Naval personnel and seven UK Royal Marines, triggering a serious diplomatic crisis at a time of heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
- February 2007. Despite international pressure, Iran refuses to end its nuclear programme.
- January 2007. US officials deny rumours that the US government is planning a military strike on Iran.
- January 2007. Tension between Iran and the USA increases markedly when US-led forces detain six Iranians at an Iranian government office in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.
- December 2006. The UN Security Council unanimously approves Resolution 1737 (2006), imposing sanctions on Iran for failing to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1696 (2006), which ordered Iran to halt all uranium enrichment activities.
- August 2006. President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad rejects UN Security Council Resolution 1696 (2006), which orders Iran to halt all uranium enrichment activities and threatens sanctions if it fails to do so.
- July 2006. The UN Security Council approves by a margin of 14-1 (with Qatar voting against) Resolution 1696 (2006), ordering Iran to halt all uranium enrichment activities and threatening sanctions if it fails to do so by Aug. 31, 2006.
- April 2006. In a nationally televised address from the north-western holy city of Mashhad, President Ahmadi-Nejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a landmark stage in its quest to develop nuclear fuel.
- February 2006. The IAEA votes to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities.
- January 2006. Iran announces that it has decided to resume "research and development" on its "peaceful nuclear energy programme".
- January 2005. A US journalist alleges that US special forces have conducted secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to identify potential nuclear, chemical, and missile targets.
- May 2003. It is reported that the US defence department (the Pentagon) has proposed a policy of "regime change" in Iran.
- May 2002. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issues a fierce denunciation of US foreign policy.
- February 2002. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accuses Iran of helping Talibaan and al-Qaida fighters to flee Afghanistan.
- January 2002. US President Bush says that the USA will act against an "axis of evil" formed by Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, and accuses the three countries of developing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
- February 1992. The IAEA visits six Iranian nuclear power installations but fails to uncover any evidence to support allegations that Iran has embarked on a covert nuclear weapons programme.
- October 1990. Iran and Iraq announce a resumption of diplomatic relations.
- August 1990. Iran announces that Iraq has accepted Iran's terms for a comprehensive peace plan based on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 598 (1987).
- November 1986. US President Ronald Reagan admits his administration has operated a secret policy of selling arms to Iran (the Iran-Contra affair).
- January 1981. Iran and the USA reach agreement to resolve a hostage crisis involving 52 US citizens captured by Islamic militants in Tehran (the capital of Iran); the hostages are released.
- September 1980. Iran-Iraq war breaks out.
- April 1980. The USA launches--and then aborts--an airborne commando operation to rescue 52 US hostages being held in Tehran.
- January 1980. Abolhassan Bani-Sadr is elected as the first President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- November 1979. Militant Iranian "students" occupy the US embassy in Tehran, taking its staff as hostages.
- August 1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calls on the Islamic world to "rise against the great powers".
- April 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini proclaims the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- February 1979. The Iranian government led by Dr Shapour Bakhtiar falls following heavy fighting in Tehran between troops loyal to the government and supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini, who assumes power.
- February 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran from exile in France.
- January 1979. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi is forced into exile; Ayatollah Khomeini announces the formation of a provisional "Revolutionary Islamic Council" to replace the "illegal government" of the Shah.
- September 1978. Violent demonstrations by supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini prompt the government to declare martial law.
- December 1977. US President Jimmy Carter visits the Shah in Tehran after saying that the USA supports a "strong Iran".
- October 1977. Students call for the return to Iran of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who was living in exile in Iraq.
- August 1975. The first elections under the single-party system introduced under the Shah are held.
- October 1971. The 2,500th anniversary of the foundation of the Persian Empire is celebrated throughout Iran.
- October 1967. The coronation of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi takes place in Tehran, some 26 years after he came to power in 1941. The crowning of Empress Farah--the first woman to be crowned in the 2,500 year history of the Persian monarchy--symbolises the emancipation of Iranian women.
- January 1963. The Shah’s "white revolution" of social and economic reforms is approved in a national referendum.
- August 1953. The government of Mohammed Mossadeq is overthrown by a Royalist revolt. A new government is formed by General Zahedi, who had been designated prime minister by the Shah.
- March 1951. The day after the assassination of Iranian Premier Ali Razmara, who was sympathetic to the West, the Iranian parliament nationalises the country's oil assets.
- October 1949. The Iranian government issues instructions to all of its overseas diplomatic missions to use the name "Persia" or "Perse" instead of "Iran".
- September 1943. Iran declares war against Nazi Germany.
- January 1942. Iran signs a treaty of alliance with the Soviet Union and the UK.
- September 1941. Iran recalls its ambassadors in Germany, Italy, and Romania, aligning itself with the Allied powers.
- September 1941. Shah Reza Pahlevi Khan abdicates "on account of failing health" and is replaced by his 21-year-old son, the Crown Prince Mohammed Reza Khan.
- September 1939. Iran declares its neutrality upon the outbreak of World War II.
- March 1935. Persia is renamed Iran.
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