While the man Israeli intelligence recently outed as the “father” of Iran’s nuclear program –Mohsen Fakhrizadeh—belongs to Iran’s repressive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the man traditionally deemed “the father” of Iranian nukes is more ambiguous – an ex-Communist turned exiled Shah supporter, a peace activist who still supports Iran’s nuclear program, for nationalist reasons. 

Dr. Akbar Etemad has lived three different cliches. His first about-face from Communist to nuclear scientist and bureaucrat proved that some minds are too expansive to be contained by any one ideology. His prominence as a peace activist after sneaking out of the new Islamic Republic of Iran suggests he belonged to the Republic of Science, like J. Robert Oppenheimer, the dissident scientist who rejected the nuclear weapons he helped design. But Etemad’s lifelong stance as a proud Iranian suggests that even if the Mullahocracy falls – Iran’s nuclear ambitions will persist. 

Predicting foreign policy is a tricky business. In fact, this topsy-turvy tale begins with a most unlikely co-star in launching Iran’s nuclear program: America’s president Dwight D. Eisenhower...

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