Al J. Venter - Irans Nuclear Option: Tehrans Quest for the Atom Bomb

Protestors in present day Iraq - Photograph: Mark Corcoran, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC-TV), 2004

Parade involving a Shahab missile on its carrier. September 22, 1999 - Photograph: Mohsen Shandiz/CORBIS

Satellite image of The Iranian Gas Centrifuge Uranium Enrichment Plant at Natanz, September 2002. Here one can see evidence of considerable construction activity - some of which (see center buildings) appears to be below ground level. Image courtesy of ISIS/DigitalGlobe

The same facility photographed in February 2003. The site comprises three large underground structures, which will be the main uranium enrichment buildings and an above-ground area enclosed by a security fence that contains six large buildings. This area contains operating centrifuge assembly facilities and a centrifuge pilot plant. There is also a large building that is the main administrative building.

Image courtesy of ISIS/DigitalGlobe

Another Satellite image, this time of a facility located near the town of Arak. This appears to be a heavy water plant under construction. Heavy water, which is ordinary water enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium, is used as a moderator in one type of nuclear reactor.

Image courtesy of ISIS/DigitalGlobe

Three schematic diagrams showing the principal behind the gascentrifuge.

left, source: David Albright, drawing Janos Rothstein. right, source: Albright, D. and Hibbs, M. Iraqs shop-till-you-drop nuclear program Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, vol 48, no. 3 (April 1992).

courtesy of ISIS.

A cutaway Iraqi SCUD missile (captured during Gulf War 1) after US scientists had finished exmaining it at Pacific Northwest National Labs, Hanford, Washington Author photo

Significant former nuclear weapons related facilities at the Pelindaba /Valindaba complex near Pretoria, South Africa. December 1991 Image courtesy of ISIS

Denel Aviation in South Africa one part of South Africas military industrial complex - the largest on the African continent (see Chapter 8). Author photo

Advena central laboratories on the outskirts of Pretoria where South Africas atom bombs were assembled and stored: (The building complex in the right half of the photograph) Image courtesy of ISIS

The Rooivalk combat helicopter was being built at the Denel factory on the outskirts of Johannesburg when the author recently worked at the complex for two months. As a technologically advanced country, South Africa is clearly a valuable asset to those countries who seek its expertise, especially with regard to advanced weapons systems, both legal and illegal. Photo: Howard Thacker

Left: Hizbollah flags are commonplace in Lebanon and parts of Iran; Centre: ten-foot high Hizbollah posters of the late Ayatollah Khomeini decorate the landscape in South Lebanon and right: UN soldier shows a plaster cast of a roadside bomb (into which explosives are packed) alongside a similar-shaped rock. Author photos

Israeli Navy unit on patrol against Hizbollah infiltrators in the Eastern Mediterranean. Author photo

Israeli Defense Force anti-mine patrol along the Lebanese frontier. Author photo

United Nations strongpoint in South Lebanon, a region commonly referred to those who know the region as Hizbollah land because this Islamic guerrilla army has unrestricted access adjacent to the Israeli frontier. Author photo

Hizbollahs forward operational base for anti-Israeli activities is in the ancient city of Tyre, South Lebanon. Author photo

Cairo, unofficial capital of the Arab world has nuclear-related developments in Iran under close focus. Author photo

The face of contemporary Iranian opposition to western and particularly Armerican policy in the Middle East.

This photograph and the others in this photo spread and on the back cover of the book were taken by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalist and reporter, Marc Corcoran in July 2004.

They offer a fascinating glimpse into what is essentially a closed society. Photo: Mark Corcoran, 2004

Inhuman punishments have become more commonplace, including two cases of stoning. Those executed included Mehrdad Kalany, who was executed on charges that included meeting and talking with Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, the former UN Special Representative, and the delegation that accompanied him.

Then Ahmed Bakhtiaria member of the Iranian Peoples Fedaian Organization (Minority)was executed on charges of participation in a terrorist group and terrorist operations, as well as other criminal charges. Rahman Radjabi Hamvand, a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, was executed. The charges against him stemmed from a complaint by a private individual that was later withdrawn. AI reported that Hedayatollah Zendehdel and Abolghasem Majd-Abkahi were believed to have been hanged after seven years detention without trial and conviction on mainly political charges.