Akbar Etemad, Physicist and Founder of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Passed Away in Paris

Akbar Etemad, a physicist and the first head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, known as the 'father of Iran's nuclear program,' passed away on Friday, April 22, at the age of 95 in Paris. Etemad was born in 1930 in Hamadan and completed his higher education in nuclear physics in Switzerland. He returned to Iran in 1965 and was appointed as a technical advisor for atomic reactor research by the then head of the Planning and Budget Organization. A year later, he established the Atomic Energy Office of the Planning and Budget Organization and was appointed its director, a position he held until 1974 when he was tasked by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to develop and implement a comprehensive nuclear energy program in Iran. This led to the establishment of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which he also chaired, successfully securing contracts with Germany, France, and the United States for the construction of nuclear power plants until 1979. Following the 1979 Revolution, Etemad left Iran and lived in France for the rest of his life. In later interviews, he described the goals of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program as 'unclear' and believed that international agreements primarily favored the West. In 2013, he mentioned in an interview that ten years after the revolution, a delegation from Iran met with him in Switzerland and suggested he return to Iran to continue the nuclear activities that existed before the revolution. However, Etemad rejected this offer, explaining, 'I did not accept the responsibility because I was really unsure about the direction in which the situation in Iran [after the revolution] was heading.' He also stated, 'Everything I had done after the revolution was discarded.' The following is a summary of a Persian report written by Golnaz Esfandiari in 2015 for Radio Free Europe. In late 1973, Etemad received a call; the Shah wanted to discuss launching a nuclear program to establish Iran's position among modern countries. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi had concluded that Iran needed to diversify its energy sources to meet the needs of its growing population. Etemad, who had studied in Switzerland and was the president of Bu-Ali University in Hamadan, was tasked with preparing a feasibility report for constructing several nuclear power plants. A month later, he personally presented the study's results to the Shah, who immediately began reading the report. Etemad: 'The Shah read the report for about an hour and a half and asked questions while reading. When he finished, he gave the report to Prime Minister Hoveyda and said, 'I completely agree with Etemad's assessment. This must be executed carefully.' And it was decided. Iran was to embark on a nuclear path, with Etemad leading the program. The first step was to fully familiarize the Shah with nuclear technology so that he could make informed decisions. For six months, Etemad personally taught the Shah weekly lessons on nuclear energy and technology. During these sessions, Etemad tried to understand the Shah's main goal: whether the program was intended to be purely peaceful or if military dimensions were also considered. According to Etemad, 'Understanding his true objective was not easy.' After about six months of training, Etemad cautiously raised the issue: 'One day I asked the Shah, 'Now that you understand the difference between building a reactor and a bomb, enrichment, and other concepts, what do you want me to do?' The Shah responded that the priority was to achieve nuclear energy, but he did not rule out the possibility of building a weapon in the future: 'We do not need a nuclear bomb at the moment, as Iran is a major regional power. But if the military balance in the region changes in 10 or 20 years, then we will have to see what to do.' Etemad also planned in such a way that if a decision were made to build a bomb, that option would be available. To achieve the goal of constructing 23 nuclear reactors and generating 23,000 megawatts of electricity, Iran began negotiations with Western countries. In 1974, Iran joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allowed inspections. That same year, a contract was signed with the German company Kraftwerk Union to build two reactors in Bushehr, and negotiations began with France for the construction of two more reactors. Iran also entered negotiations with the United States, its powerful ally. The U.S. supported the Shah's peaceful program but had concerns about his desire to process nuclear fuel. Negotiations with Washington continued from 1974 to 1978, but Etemad believed from the beginning that these negotiations would be fruitless: 'In my mind, I had crossed out two countries: one was the U.S., the other was the Soviet Union. Because these countries only wanted to impose their views in negotiations.' Ultimately, Washington and Tehran signed a draft agreement in 1978 that would allow Iran to reprocess nuclear fuel supplied by the U.S., provided it accepted inspections. However, this agreement was never implemented. The 1979 Revolution overthrew the Shah's regime and ended his nuclear dream. Etemad left the country shortly before the revolution but continued to follow developments from abroad. The Islamic Republic halted the nuclear program, made limited efforts to revive it in the 1980s, and resumed the Shah's previous path in the 1990s. Etemad also witnessed the controversies surrounding the Islamic Republic's sensitive nuclear activities, which raised international concerns about the possibility of nuclear weapons development and led to economic sanctions and Iran's isolation. Etemad was optimistic about reaching an agreement between Iran and global powers but warned that 'this agreement would only be 'good' for Western countries. They impose their demands on Iran. That's all.' However, when asked if Iran's nuclear program was worth the pressures placed on the country, he candidly replied, 'No.'