Openness of the road to Natanz

Book Excerpt

... today was to be nuke day – our short drive north to Kashan was going to take us right by the home of the Iranian nuclear program. While many reports from Iran cite Esfahan as its home the actual location is about 60 miles north near the small city of Natanz.

We drove quickly north, seemingly the only people on the smooth new expressway, minus a couple of checkpoints. That morning leaving Esfahan we stopped for directions and found that checkpoints had become such a fixed part of the landscape they were even used when giving directions, “drive down this road for a while until you come to the police checkpoint [not the other ones], then turn right.”

Driving by, Natanz is just another exit on the highway, city visible in the distance. The nuclear site is not something mentioned by the local road signs. Professor saw me scanning the area but told me not to bother. ...