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Posts Tagged ‘iranian nuclear program’

Agreement Reached on Limiting Iran’s Nuclear Program

Thursday, July 16th, 2015

July 16, 2015

On Tuesday, July 14, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for relief from international sanctions. The landmark agreement followed months of intense negotiations (and years of difficult diplomacy) between Iran and the United States, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The global goal of the agreement—to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon—was reached, as was Iran’s goal, the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

Iran first bragged about its newly achieved nuclear capabilities in 2002, raising alarms around the world—specifically with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA is the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations (UN). Iran claimed their atomic aim was peaceful (the creation of electric power, for instance), but international doubt forced economic sanctions on Iran until the nation could prove its good intentions. Decades of Islamic extremism, petroleum maneuvering, and general belligerence toward the Western world had isolated Iran. The Iranian and U.S. governments have not had regular diplomatic relations since the hostage crisis that began in 1979. The United States and many other countries—France, Germany, and the United Kingdom included—consider Iran a “rogue nation”—that is, a nation that ignores international law and supports terrorism.

A few recent major events brought Iran and the United States (the nation Iran tends to target most often in speeches) closer to a truce. First was the election of President Barack Obama in 2008. After years of U.S. diplomatic poison, Obama’s corps began sending reconciliatory feelers Iran’s way. Those feelers went largely ignored until February 2013, when Iran’s economic malaise finally brought them to the negotiating table in secret. Those opening talks—revealed months later—were part of a larger liberal ground swell in Iran that led to the election in June 2013 of President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric (religious leader) and—crucially—a former Iranian representative and negotiator with the IAEA. In November, just three months after Rouhani took office, Iran and the West made their relationship public with the announcement of a tentative nuclear agreement. This “promise to promise” lifted the first series of economic sanctions on Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in September 2013. © Mike Segar, Reuters/Landov

In March 2014, very public negotiations began between Iran and the “P5+1,” the permanent members of the UN Security Council: the United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom + Germany. The P5+1 aren’t all the best of friends, but they all acknowledged that an agreement with Iran was in the world’s best interest. So they put differences aside—with Iran and with each other—and reached this monumental diplomatic agreement. The devil is in the details, of course, and time will tell if the deal lives up to its hype, but it is without question a giant step in the right direction.

There is an important aside to all this new-found friendship: the cataclysmic 2014 emergence of the terrorist group, the Islamic State—also called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), among other things. Iraq and Syria are next door to Iran, and the Islamic State threat has brought Iranian and U.S. military people together on the ground. It took real terror (not supposed or potential or imagined) to make that happen.

 

Tags: iaea, iran, iranian nuclear program
Posted in Current Events, Government & Politics, Terrorism | Comments Off

Netanyahu Speech Riles Democrats

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

March 4, 2015

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke to a joint session of the U.S. Congress concerning foreign policy with Iran. The speech was a breach with usual protocol, as House Leader John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress without consulting with U.S. President Barack Obama. Netanyahu’s speech, just two weeks before he is up for re-election, openly criticized Obama’s Iran initiative concerning nuclear development in that nation. Some 50 Democratic members of Congress refused to attend the speech.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in Washington, Monday, March 2, 2015. Credit: AP Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in Washington, Monday, March 2, 2015. Credit: AP Photo

The disagreement centered on more than just politics and protocol. President Obama—along with European allies, Russia, and China—is trying to persuade the government of Iran to agree to a pact to limit their nuclear holdings. The agreement specified the number of centrifuges Iran was allowed and called for Iran to permit international inspections of its nuclear sites. Should Iran exceed the number of centrifuges or refuse to cooperate with international inspectors, the governments urging the pact believe there would be enough time for them to act before Iran was able to build a bomb.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated that Iran has a history of duplicity concerning pacts and agreements and of making statements threatening the state of Israel. Netanyahu argues that Iran should be allowed no centrifuges or nuclear material. As Iran is unlikely to agree to such terms, however, international inspections of sites would be impossible. The current pact negotiated by Obama may be the best of several less-than-perfect options.

Other World Book articles:

  • Iran (2009-a Back in Time article)
  • Iran (2010-a Back in time article)
  • Iran (2011-a Back in time article)
  • Iran (2012-a Back in time article)
  • Iran (2013-a Back in time article)
  • Israel (2013-a Back in Time article)
  • Nuclear energy
  • Nuclear weapon

 

Tags: benjamin netanyahu, iranian nuclear program, israel
Posted in Current Events, Government & Politics | Comments Off

Boehner Invites Israeli Prime Minister to Address Congress

Thursday, January 22nd, 2015

January 22, 2015

Speaker of the House of Representatives John A. Boehner yesterday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress on February 11. Political analysts suggested that the invitation, which Netanyahu accepted, is part of a growing showdown between Republicans and President Barack Obama over proposals to tighten sanctions against Iran. Iran, the United States, and other world powers are in negotiations over possible controls and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program, including levels of uranium enrichment. Despite these talks, Israel, according to a number of military experts, is preparing for air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

In his State of the Union address to Congress on January 20, President Obama appealed to the Republican-controlled House and Senate to hold off on any additional sanctions against Iran while diplomatic talks continue over possible ways to limit Iran’s nuclear program. [New sanctions] “will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails, alienating America from its allies and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again,” the president stated in his address.

Speaking to Republican lawmakers yesterday, Boehner noted that he hoped Netanyahu would speak on the threat radical Islam and Iran pose to U.S. security. “He [President Obama] expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran,” said Boehner.

Today, a White House spokesperson informed the media that President Obama would not meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu upon his arrival in February.

Additional World Book article:

  • Nuclear weapon

Tags: barack obama, benjamin netanyahu, economic sanctions, iran, iranian nuclear program, john boehner
Posted in Economics, Energy, Government & Politics, History, Military Conflict, People, Religion, Technology | Comments Off

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