
Location of Bushehr in Iran
'Bushehr' or 'Bushire' (
Persian:بوشهر), pop. 165,377 (in
2005 [1]), is a city on the southwestern coast of
Iran, on the
Persian Gulf. It is the chief
seaport of the country and the administrative centre of
Bushehr province. Its location is 28° 59' N, 50° 49' E, about 400 km south of
Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.

Persian Gulf Coast in Buszehr
History
this city based 3000 years ageo by Ashoor people and Siraf (the oldest port of the world)was a part of this great city.
Bushehr was founded in
1736 by
Nadir Shah. Prior to that, it was called
Reeshehr, and was the seat of the
Nestorian Christian expansion of the 5th century.
In
1763 the Persian ruler
Karim Khan granted the
British East India Company the right to build a base and trading post there. It was used as a base by the
British Royal Navy in the late
18th century. In the
19th century, Bushehr became an important commercial port. It was occupied by British forces in
1856, during the
Anglo-Persian War 1856-1857. Bushehr surrendered to the British on
December 9,
1856.
It was occupied by the British again in
1915, the second time due to
German intrigue, most notably by
Wilhelm Wassmuss.
In previous centuries, many Africans settled in Bushehr. Although there is no discernible linguistic influence from Africa in Bushehr, there are cultural and genetic influences.
Industries include
fishing and a
thermoelectric power plant, while the inland area (also called Bushehr) produces
Shiraz wine,
metalwork,
rugs and other
textiles,
cement, and
fertilizer. The Iranian
navy maintains a base here.
Nuclear development
Main articles: Nuclear program of Iran
Bushehr is twelve kilometres from the site of a
nuclear power plant being built in cooperation with
Russia. The work was begun by the
Bonn firm
Kraftwerk-Union A.G., a unit of
Siemens AG, which contracted to build two nuclear reactors based on a contract worth $4 to $6 billion, signed in 1975.
Work stopped in January 1979, and Kraftwerk-Union fully withdrew from the project in July 1979, with one reactor 50% complete, and the other reactor 85% complete. They said they based their action on Iran's non-payment of $450 million in overdue payments. The company had received $2.5 billion of the total contract. Their cancellation came following the 1979
Iranian Revolution, and the realization that the Iranian government would unilaterally terminate the contract themselves.
The reactors were then damaged by multiple Iraqi air strikes between February 1985 and 1988. Iran subsequently requested that Siemens finish construction, but Siemens declined due to diplomatic pressure from the United States. Shortly afterwards
Iraq invaded Iran and the nuclear programme was stopped until the end of the war.
In
1995, Russia signed a contract to supply a
light water reactor for the plant (the contract is believed to be valued between $700,000,000 and $1,200,000,000 USD). Although the agreement calls for the spent
fuel rods to be sent back to Russia for reprocessing, the US has expressed concern that Iran would reprocess the rods itself, in order to obtain
plutonium for
atomic bombs.
In August 2004 a top U.S. arms-control official stated that Tehran could develop nuclear weapons within three years if left unchecked. U.S. Undersecretary of State
John R. Bolton said in Washington that "Iran has told the EU three [Britain, France, and Germany] that it could possess nuclear weapons within three years." The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate contradicts this claim
[2]. For context see
Iran and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons.
Colleges and Universities
★
Bushehr University of Medical Sciences
★
Islamic Azad University of Bushehr
★
Iran Nuclear Energy College
★
Persian Gulf University
Postage stamps
See :
Postage stamps of Bushire under British occupation
External links
★
Bushehr, The Persian Gulf