Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.

1986
An Iranian team visits Argentina to discuss the possible involvement of Argentina and Spain in the construction of the Bushehr reactors. West Germany and Argentina will train Iranian technicians to assist in the completion of the work. West Germany will not issue an export license for the remaining 10% of the equipment for the plant (the nuclear steam supply system) until the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Argentina and Iran cooperated on nuclear issues when the Shah was in power, but Argentina is concerned about Iran's finances.
—Ann Maclachlan, "Iran Seeking Way To Finish Bushehr Plant But Bonn Denies Exports," Nucleonics Week, 30 October 1986, Vol. 27, No. 44, pp. 4-5; in Lexis-Nexis, <http://www.lexisnexis.com/>; Richard Kessler, Nucleonics Week, 15 May 1986, pp. 3-4; Richard Kessler, Nucleonics Week, 11 December 1986, pp. 1-2.

1986
Two Argentine companies make "business overtures" to Iran without informing the Argentine Foreign Ministry. The ministry vetoes the deals after it is informed. Part of a January 1986 shipment of at least 3,300lbs of uranium dioxide from Argentina to Algeria is retransferred to Iran, according to Reagan administration officials. Argentina denies the allegation. According to another report, the shipment consists of 6,600lbs of uranium (3 metric tons).
—Nucleonics Week, 10 September 1987, pp. 6-7. Leonard S. Spector, Going Nuclear: The Spread of Nuclear Weapons 1986-1987 (Cambridge: Ballinger publishing Co., 1987), pp. 46-47; Richard Kessler, Nucleonics Week, 7 May 1987, p. 6.

January 1986
Investigaciones Aplicadas (INVAP) of Argentina begins negotiations with Iran on the supply of a new core for Iran's U.S.-supplied research reactor in Tehran. [Note: A contract was signed in May 1987 (see 5 May 1987) and later suspended (see 26 January 1992. For other related entries, see 26 September 1988, 22 January 1992, 3 and 7 February 1992, 2 March 1992, April 1992, and 17 November 1992.]
—Nuclear Engineering International, July 1987, pp. 4-5.

February 1986
Abdul Qadir Khan, Pakistan's leading nuclear scientist, makes a secret visit to Bushehr. Pakistan and Iran sign a secret nuclear cooperation agreement later in the year.
—Kenneth R. Timmerman, "Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Cases of Iran, Syria and Libya," a Simon Wiesenthal Center Special Report, August 1992, p. 41-42.

21 February 1986
China's Foreign Ministry announces that notices have been sent to all nations receiving nuclear exports from the People's Republic of China (PRC) to accept safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The announcement stated that nuclear cooperation with France, West Germany, the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, and Japan is limited to peaceful use and that no cooperation agreements exist with Iran. The Chinese spokesman denies the charges from U.S. Senator Alan Cranston that China is exporting nuclear technology to Pakistan, South Africa, and Iran.
—"China's Nuclear Exports, International Safeguards Discussed," World Wide Report, 21 February 1986, p. 5.

26 February 1986
Iran and Iraq say to both the International Atomic Energy Agency and the press that an attack by Iraq against an Iranian nuclear facility is possible.
—Gamini Seneviratne, "USSR Says IAEA Can Hold Safeguards Inspections At Bn-600 Breeder," Nucleonics Week, 26 February 1987, p. 13.

April 1986
The Comision Nacional del Energia Atomica (CNEA) of Argentina reviews a proposal by Iran to complete the Bushehr reactors. Although the Argentine government requires that a cooperation agreement between the two countries be in effect before Argentina becomes involved, CNEA is said to be interested in participating.
—Richard Kessler, Nucleonics Week, 1 May 1986, p. 7.

12 July 1986
Iraq attacks the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
—Anthony H. Cordesman, "Iran and Nuclear Weapons: A Working Draft," Center for Strategic and International Studies, 7 February 2000; "Iran Atomic Energy Agency Head Goes to Bushehr," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 24 June 1989, <http://www.lexisnexis.com/>.

1 September 1986
France and Iran are near agreement on their dispute over the Eurodif enrichment plant. Iran wants repayment of a $1 billion loan to France's Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique for Iran's participation in Eurodif. France wants compensation for the enrichment services allotted to Iran. The settlement with France might include French participation in Iran's partially completed Bushehr nuclear units.
—"France and Iran may be nearing agreement," Nuclear News, September 1986, p. 90b.

30 October 1986
Nucleonics Weeks reports that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is in a dispute with the West German government over delivery of components for Bushehr nuclear power plant ordered from Kraftwerk Union (KWU) in 1974.
—"Iran Seeking Way to Finish Bushehr Plant But Bonn Denies Exports," Nucleonics Week, 30 October 1986, pp. 4-5.

November 1986
Following a request from Iran, Pakistan's president says Pakistan is willing to cooperate with Iran on nuclear matters.
—Worldwide Report, 17 February 1987, p. 38; in Saeed Qureshi, The Muslim (Islamabad), 23 November 1986, p. 1.

December 1986
Argentina's ENACE (Empresa Nuclear Argentina de Centrales Electricas) is acting as a go-between for Brazil and Kraftwerk Union of West Germany, which is attempting to persuade Brazil to do nuclear-related business in Iran, according to "local reports" that are denied by ENACE. [Note: See 3 December 1986, 1991, 1992, and January 1992 for additional information on Brazil's nuclear cooperation with Iran.]
—Richard Kessler, Nucleonics Week, 11 December 1986, pp. 1-2.

1 December 1986
The French Finance Minister Jean-Bernard Raimond and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati agree to terms for France to start repaying the $1 billion loan made by Iran during the Shah's reign to support the Eurodif enrichment project. The Iranians say the Eurodif project owes them some $500 to $700 million in interest on top of the loan itself. France claims nearly $2 billion in losses on the power station contracts and a $1.3 billion loss of revenue for enrichment services. The French side has agreed to an initial installment on the loan repayment of around $330 million.
—"France and Iran Have Agreed on Eurodif Repayment," Nuclear News, December 1986, pp. 17-18.

3 December 1986
A delegation from the West Germany-Argentina joint venture Empresa Nuclear Argentina de Centrales Electricas (ENACE) meets with senior Iranian nuclear and governmental leaders in Teheran. The officials meet about expanding commercial ties beyond an existing contract for ENACE to train nuclear engineers and technicians from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), which will help finish the long-stalled 1293 MW PWR, Bushehr-1. [Note: The 1293MW reactor under construction at Bushehr is also referred to as 1200MWe. See November 1974, May 1987, and March 1993.] West Germany has refused to renew an export license for the shipment to Iran of 7,000 metric tons of major nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) items until the Iran-Iraq War ends. ENACE President Abel Julio Gonzalez denies local industry reports that Kraftwerk Union (KWU) of the FRG is trying to persuade Brazilian nuclear companies to share the risk of doing business in Iran or that ENACE is acting as a go-between towards that end. Officials of Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica (CNEA) decline to comment on reports that CNEA offered to share nuclear fuel cycle information with Teheran. Teheran threatened to break off economic ties with Bonn unless all the parts for Bushehr-1 that Iran has paid for are shipped. Analysts note that any Bushehr work that vendor KWU could get the ENACE-led group to do, could help it win a contract from CNEA to supply the NSSS for Argentina's fourth nuclear station over competitor Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL). Argentina is involved with a West German-Spanish consortium that is negotiating a contractual model with the AEOI for completing Bushehr-1.
—Richard Kessler, "Argentine's Hope for Expanded Iran Contracts from Teheran Talks," Nucleonics Week, 11 December 1986, pp. 1-2.