Iran's nuclear programme

Tehran ,
While US President Barack Obama vowed to engage diplomatically with Iran saying he will back ‘tough and direct diplomacy’ as a means to end the controversy surrounding Tehran’s nuclear programme,Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said “ Iran so far has not received any concrete offer from president Obama’s administration” adding that “The dispute over the nuclear issue is not an unsolvable problem if we stop being entrenched in our positions.”
Meanwhile the country’s top leader Imam Khamenei declared that “ Iran has achieved breakthroughs in nuclear and space technology despite international sanctions against i”.He told military commanders that “ Iran is becoming more self reliant,leading to greater strides by Iranian scientists and to technological advancements in the country’s history”.

Recently President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the launch of Iran’s first domestically produced satellite showing the west that the sanctions does not matter much.But Analysts believe it as a major step for an ambitious space program that worries the US and other hegemonic powers.
The United States imposed sanctions against Iran immediately after its 1979 Islamic Revolution,which toppled the US backed Shah Mohammad Reza.Over the years ,Washington has tightened sanctions against any investment in Iran. Since 2006,Iran has also been under UN Security Council sanctions due to its nuclear and missile industries and its refusal to halt uranium enrichment .

However the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed in its latest November report that Iran has only enriched uranium-235 to a level 'less than 5 percent' -- a rate consistent with the development of a nuclear power plant where as Nuclear arms production requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent.
Currently,western powers have offered Iran a package of political and economic incentives to convince the country to halt its uranium enrichment program
Tue, 17 Feb 2009