| Summary/Abstract |
Elevation of China-Iran nuclear cooperation is a factor which pushed both countries’ willingness to improve strategic and military cooperation. Iran’s nuclear programme can be traced to the Shah’s rule, in the initial years of the Islamic Republic. At this time Iran had made significant advances in nuclear technology. Eventually Iran focussed on nuclear technology and this caused Iran to seek help from China. In fact, Iraq was also trying to develop nuclear weapons at that time. Hence Iran had sought help from nuclear advanced countries along with India for building a research reactor, while this was utilised effectively by China and provided other assistance in nuclear research. The Iran-Iraq conflict was one of the reasons behind Iran’s ambition to become a nuclear power and to be independent in enriching uranium. China helped Iran’s nuclear programme in return for benefits relating to access to Iran’s energy resources. China had, along with Russia, assisted Iran’s nuclear programme for peaceful use of nuclear energy and also provided it with material and training support. However dual use technology transferred from China to Iran may have been used for nuclear weapons technology.
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