Persian Realm

A French Documentary by Alexandra Ranz investigates George Besse's murder on November 17, 1986 and its links to the negotiations concerning the Eurodif nuclear company,in which Iran had a 10% share. Akbar Etemad, the shah's chief atomic energy advisor also appears in this documentary.

EURODIF: Georges Besse’s assassination , The Shah, The Bomb and the Revolution:

(NOTE: You can Watch the Documentary in Continuity Here)

Part I: ( Crispy images of Shah starts at 9 h 39)

Part II:

Part III:

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Shah and The Bomb

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Shah and the Atom Bomb:

Interview on French TV with the late Shah of Iran (circa 1975-76) regarding the need for Iran to acquire Nuclear Weapons.

About Akbar Etemad:
Akbar Etemad is the father of Iran's nuclear programme. After graduating from Lausanne University in 1963, Etemad returned to Iran and became a nuclear adviser to the Iranian government. He was the president of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) between 1974 and 1978.

The rising oilprices of the early 1970s allowed the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to embark on ambitious industrial and military projects. Under Etemad's supervision, Iran launched an extensive nuclear energy programme. The goal was to produce roughly 23,000 megawatts of electrical power from a series of nuclear power stations within 20 years.

A host of contracts between Iran and nuclear suppliers in Europe and the United States followed: Iran struck a deal with Kraftwerk Union, a Siemens subsidiary of then WestGermany, to build two 1,200-megawatt reactors at Bushehr, and negotiated with the French company Framatome for two additional 900-megawatt reactors. In 1974, Iran reportedly invested $1bn in a French uranium enrichment plant owned by Eurodif, a European consortium.

The shah's plans and Iran's co-operation with Europe and the US came to an abrupt halt after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

About Georges Besse

Georges Besse (December 25, 1927 in Clermont-Ferrand, France — November 17, 1986in Paris) was a French businessman who led several large state-controlled French companies during his lifetime. Hewas assassinated outside his home on November 17, 1986. At the time of his death he was the CEO of French car manufacturer Renault.

AREVA operates the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant.

Assassination

Besse'skillers rode up on a motorcycle as he emerged from his chauffeur-driven automobile. The car chief was shot in the head and chest and died where he fell on the pavement.

Leafletsby the militant Maoist organization Action Directe were sent three months later. The organization claimed responsibility for the murder, stating the murder was in retaliation for his reforms of the financially stricken automaker Renault which involved laying off a large number of workers. However, the Action Directe members denied any responsibility during their trial.

Two women, Nathalie Menigon and Joelle Aubron, were charged with his murder in March 1987 and were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989. Two other Action Directe members, Jean-Marc Rouillan and Georges Cipriani, were convicted as accomplices and also sentenced to life imprisonment.

Besse's murder has also been linked, most notably by Dominique Lorentz, to the negotiations concerning the Eurodif nuclear company, in which Iran had a 10% share.

About Action Directe :

Founding:

Action directe wasset up in 1977 by two other groups, GARI (Groupes d'Action Révolutionnaire Internationalistes, revolutionary internationalist action groups) and NAPAP (Noyaux Armés pour l'Autonomie Populaire, Armed Core Groups for Popular Autonomy), as the "military-political co-ordination of the autonomous movement". In 1979, it was transformed into an "urban guerrilla organization" and carried out violent attacks under the banner of"anti-imperialism" and "proletarian defence." The group was banned by the French government in 1984. In August 1985, Action directe allied itself with the German Red Army Faction.

Actions:

Action directe carried out some fifty attacks, including a machine gun assault on the employers' union headquarters on 1 May 1979 as well as attacks on French government buildings, property management agencies, French army buildings, companies in the military-industrial complex, and the state of Israel. They carried out robberies or "proletarian expropriation" actions, and assassinations,killing Engineer General René Audran, the manager of French arms sales, in 1985. They were also accused of Georges Besse's 1986 killing, a murder allegedly justified because he was the then head of the French automaker Renault. However, they denied it during their trial. Besse was also former president of Eurodif nuclear company,in which Iran had a 10% share. They also claimed joint responsibility for the 1985 bomb attack carried out by the Red Army Faction at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, which killed 2 people. (More Here)

Recommended Reading:

'The Shah's Plan Was To Build Bombs'' by Maziar Bahari (NewStatesman)

Akbar Etemad, the shah's chief atomic energy adviser, tells Maziar Bahari about the unlikely birth of Iran's nuclear program.

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