Photo Gallery Iran Confronts the World
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has done little to reassure the international community that his country is not interested in acquiring nuclear weapons. Most recently, Iran rejected a Russian offer to deliver enriched uranium to Iran for use in civilian reactors.
The United States has left no doubt that it suspects Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday accused Iran of mounting a "deliberate escalation." The US supports bringing the issue before the UN Security Council.
Iran's nuclear facility near Isfahan. Iran removed International Atomic Energy Agency seals from a reactor in Natanz on Tuesday, escalating the conflict.
Ahmadinejad has shown a weakness for making outrageous remarks about Israel. During a conference entitled "The World Without Zionism" in October 2005, Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be "wiped off the map." He followed that up by saying Israel should be moved to Europe -- or Alaska.
A picture taken from the monitor of the control room shows Iranian technicians unsealing a container of radioactive uranium to be used at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facilities. Iran says it is not interested in nuclear weapons.
Iranian students protesting in Isfahan. Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which guarantees countries the right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful use.
The European Union group of three -- France, Britain and Germany -- recommended on Thursday that Iran be brought before the UN Security Council. Negotiations with Iran, they said, have come to a "dead end." Pictured are French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran display anti-Iran banners during a protest in front of the foreign ministry in Berlin on Thursday.
