Isfahan

Nothing seems extraordinary on the quiet provincial road outside the ancient Iranian city of Isfahan. Then suddenly, nestling beneath the mountains, a tall chimney emerges flanked by an impressive complex of buildings. This is the Iranian plant for converting uranium, a centrepiece of the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme, and rarely opened up to outsiders.

A defiant Iran resumed full operations at its uranium conversion plant as Europe and the United States struggled to find a way to stop the Islamic republic from pushing ahead with a nuclear programme they fear will lead to weapons of mass destruction.