Iran Resumes Uranium Enrichment, Removing IAEA Seals at Natanz

Iran resumes uranium enrichment activities at Natanz and removes IAEA monitoring seals, triggering UN Security Council involvement and a new round of international sanctions.

After a voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment during talks with European nations, Iran's newly elected hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in January 2006 that Iran would resume enrichment research at Natanz. IAEA seals were broken and cameras were removed. The move triggered emergency meetings of the IAEA Board of Governors and referral of Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council for the first time. Iran insisted its program was purely for civilian energy production, but Western governments viewed the high-level enrichment as a step toward weapons capability. The confrontation set the stage for years of escalating UN sanctions and eventually the nuclear negotiations of the Obama era.