VIENNA (AP) – Tuesday’s nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran culminates more than a decade of diplomatic efforts to ensure that Tehran cannot develop nuclear weapons.
A timeline of major events over that timespan:
August 2002 – Western intelligence services and an Iranian opposition group reveal a covert nuclear site at the eastern city of Natanz. An inspection by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency reveals it was used to enrich uranium, a process for producing fuel or nuclear warheads.
June 2003 – Britain, France and Germany engage Iran in nuclear negotiations. Washington refuses to join.
October 2003 – Iran suspends uranium enrichment.