The following is an amazing interview with the Iranian, who after studying reactor-physics in Switzerland was entrusted by the Shah to take over the nuclear program that was eventually funded from oil money following the oil boom of 1973.

The program was started in 1965 but the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran was created only in 1974 and we would be very curious to find out from Mr. Etemad if Israel helped in those days Iran?

Akbar Etemad was made by the Shah Deputy Prime Minister in recognition of the importance of this subject and the official explanation was that Iran wants nuclear power for internal energy so they can export more oil to the world. In this the Shah was right when he said that oil is too precious in order to burn it just for electricity fuel. Nevertheless, Etemad realized that the intend was indeed nuclear weapons.

The Iranian revolution of 1979 disbanded the Shah’s efforts as they did not see their importance at first, then much later “things have come full circle again” says Akbar Etemad. The argument again is that Iran as a sovereign state is entitled to do as they please. Having listened today how President Obama answered a question about the UN concept of “The Responsibility to Protect” by saying that “sovereignty is sacrosanct,” we wonder if he has not in the process also backed the Iranian position on nuclear power and weapons, – this in spite of everything else he says about non-proliferation.

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First Person: Akbar Etemad.
As told to David Patrikarakos of The Financial Times, Published: July 11 2009

Iran has every right to pursue nuclear power. It is a matter of national sovereignty. We should never have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968 – it was based on an unfair bargain. I believe that now, and I believed it more than 40 years ago, when the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, put me in charge of creating the country’s nuclear programme.

In 1965 I had just finished studying reactor physics in Switzerland and arrived back in Iran. I had no job, no real plan of action – I had been away for 15 years. At the University of Tehran, the government was building a nuclear research reactor with US assistance through Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” programme. One day, I read in the paper that work had stopped because of a lack of expertise. An angry Shah had ordered the chairman of the National Planning Organisation to find a way to finish the project.

So I put all my diplomas in a bag and went to the chairman’s offices. His secretary didn’t want to let me in, but I said that if she told her boss there was a young Iranian at reception who knew about the atom, he would see me. He saw me. I detailed my qualifications and experience, and I still remember the relief on his face: “God has sent you through the window to us,” he said.

Two days later, he called me and said the Shah would personally authorise whatever it took to complete the reactor. After it was finished in 1967, I worked in several universities before the atom called me back. The 1973 oil boom meant that money was plentiful. The Shah asked if I would return. He gave me free rein to do whatever I wanted, so in 1974 I created the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran. It worked directly under the Shah, and I was made deputy prime minister to make the lines of communication as clear as possible. My budget was almost limitless – we didn’t even have to produce accounts.

The Shah desperately wanted nuclear energy for Iran. He was adamant that a barrel of oil was too valuable to burn for fuel. We needed nuclear power so we could sell our petroleum.

But nuclear power is complicated. I had to ensure there could be no misunderstanding, so the Shah could make informed decisions. We began to meet every week, and I would teach him about nuclear technology. I started by saying, literally: “This is an atom; this is a molecule.” At the end of each session, I would hand him some papers and say, “Majesty, if you get the chance, look at this for next time.” He always did his homework, and he understood. I tested him.

Of course we discussed weapons – how could we not? But I broached the subject carefully. I wasn’t sure he would tell me his plans, and even if he did, I couldn’t take it as proof of intent. He might want weapons, tell me the opposite and then one day expect us to have the capability. So I always pursued every avenue of research and kept all options open.

He always said Iran didn’t need nuclear weapons because its conventional arms strength was sufficient. But he also said that if things ever changed – if our security was threatened – he would give the order to start building a deterrent. Iran has had uranium for years now. It’s just a raw material – you need to enrich it to have any effect. It’s like having enough rice to make a pollo [an Iranian dish]: meaningless in itself.

In 1979, I had to leave the country just before the Islamic Revolution. The Shah was no longer in control and the situation was becoming dangerous. Then the new government abandoned the project: a waste of money, they said. Now things have come full circle and the programme is a symbol of pride. I live in Paris, but I’m known in Iran as the founder of the programme. I went back for the first time in 2007. It was weird. Tehran had changed: the streets, the people, even the way people spoke. It was like being in a strangely familiar foreign country.

Reuters, July 11, 2009 - Iran prepares package to offer West – Iran is preparing a new package of “political, security and international” issues to put to the West, its foreign minister said on Saturday.

“The package can be a good basis for talks with the West. The package will contain Iran’s stances on political, security and international issues,” Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday that the Group of Eight major powers would give Iran until September to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or else face tougher sanctions.

In Iran’s first reaction to Sarkozy’s statement at the G8 summit in Italy, Mottaki said the Islamic state had not received “any new message” from the summit.

“We have not received any new message from the G8. But based on the news we have received, they had different views on different issues which did not lead to a unanimous agreement in some areas,” Mottaki said.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Iran on Friday that the world wouldl not wait indefinitely for it to end its nuclear defiance, saying Tehran had until September to comply or else face consequences.

The EU powers Britain, France and Germany have led negotiations with Iran over nuclear work that the West suspects is aimed at bomb-making.

Tehran says its nuclear work is wholly peaceful and continues defiance in the nuclear row with the West, saying the Islamic state will not back down “even one step” over its disputed programme.

Together with the United States, Russia and China, the EU nations have offered a package of economic and other incentives to Iran if it will stop enriching uranium, a process that can produce fuel for power plants, or, potentially, a nuclear bomb.

Iran has rejected the demand, saying it has the right to pursue such work as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In a separate statement, the G8 said it was committed to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme.