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Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)

  • Location
    Tehran
  • Type
    Nuclear-Regulatory
  • Facility Status
    Operational

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About

Established in 1973, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has operational control over Iran’s civilian nuclear program. The organization’s original purpose was to oversee the planned implementation of a 23,000 MWe nuclear program under the Shah. 1 The body has five separate divisions: (1) Research Division; (2) Nuclear Power Plant Division; (3) Nuclear Fuel Production Division; (4) Planning, Education and Parliament Affairs Division; and (5) Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Division. 2

In 1998, AEOI officials met with A.Q. Khan to negotiate the purchase of centrifuge enrichment technology. 3 The organization also owned the companies Iran used for secret centrifuge research, such as Pars Trash and the Kalaye Electric Company. 4 The AEOI has actively attempted to provide Iran with access to foreign nuclear technology and negotiated, for example, cooperation agreements with Russia and China. 5 The organization also owns numerous front and false-flag companies, which it uses for illicit procurement operations in order to circumvent international sanctions. 6 The AEOI is the target of both U.S. and UN sanctions.

In February 2013, head of the AEOI Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani announced that Iran has identified 16 sites for the construction of nuclear power plants, and will provide the IAEA with design information questionnaires (DIQs) for all proposed plants. 7

Glossary

Sanctions
Punitive measures, for example economic in nature, implemented in response to a state's violation of its international obligations.

Sources

  1. Dr. M. Ghannadi-Maragheh, “Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,” World Nuclear Association, 2002, p.1, www.world-nuclear.org.
  2. Dr. M. Ghannadi-Maragheh, “Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,” World Nuclear Association, 2002, p.1, www.world-nuclear.org.
  3. Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), p. 119.
  4. Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), p. 120.
  5. Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), pp. 144-149.
  6. “UN Security Council Resolution 1747 (2007),” 24 March 2007, www.un.org.
  7. “Report on the Implementation of Safeguards in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” International Atomic Energy Agency, 22 May 2013, iaea.org.

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