Added Tension with Iran

Just to recap and provide a little information about the implications of the IAEA plan regarding Iran's nuclear program here's a video! The video is from CNN. This is Mohamed ElBaradei's, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, remarking on how Iran's views the proposed nuclear plan. He also says that this plan would help ease tensions with Iran and the US.



There still has not been an official statement from Iran regarding the deal created by the IAEA with the help of the US and other countries that would propose Iran to send most of its uranium to other countries in order to be enriched. Repeatedly the United States has urged Iran to accept this deal. This proposal is meant to build trust between Iran and the United States because it would ensure the US what sort and the amount of uranium Iran is receiving. This delay has caused leaders to question Iran's intention for the future of its Nuclear Program. But there is another side to Iran nuclear program other than nuclear energy. Just recently there has been a report stating that Iran is experimenting with nuclear warheads, called a "two-point implosion" device. The IAEA is questioning how Iran obtained the details to build such a device. This only adds greater tension to Iran's diplomatic future. Some may want to use military action on Iran, but this will not help in the long run. If there is evidence suggesting that there is an immanent threat from Iran, then military action might be an option, but for the time being the best thing to do is to increase negotiations and connections with Iran.

However, the future of negotiations might come to a stand still. In Iran there are many internal conflicts that are getting in the way of decision making (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110504439_pf.html). There is tension in Iranian politics, on both sides, arguing how President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should engage with the West regarding Iran's nuclear program (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/world/middleeast/03iran.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast). There are some politicians in Iran who wants Ahmadinejad to have a tougher stance with the West, while the potential to improve relations with the United States is on the line. Iran's delay in answering does not give Iran a positive light on how it may react in future negotiations. The US needs to firm with its goals of Iran's nuclear program, but the US needs to do it in a respectable way and should understanding Iran's wishes. But in order to achieve transparency and truthfulness regarding Iran's nuclear program, goals must be accomplished. The United States must remain positive, but should not slack on its goal of achieving a respectable and constructive relationship with Iran.

Implications Post

The future regarding the relations between the United States and Iran may ironically be similar to the past if the issues on Iran's nuclear program and the protests on the Iranian presidential election, remain unsolved. If the issue on Iran' nuclear program remains unsolved, then there may be future conflicts that will block the road to improved relations. In the past, the United States has not trusted Iran's intentions of its nuclear program, and the US is not willing to give up the belief that Iran may be a nuclear threat. If the United States does not trust Iran with its nuclear intentions in the future, then there will be many economic sanctions put in place. This will also lead to a large amount of pressure on Iran to agree with proposals that may take in place in the future. But in the past Iran has delayed major deadlines on important proposals, such as the past IAEA proposal. If Iran keeps on delaying major deadlines such as these, then nothing will be accomplished in the future. Measures will not be passed, and Iran will not be able to continue building its nuclear program and the United States will be tougher. This does not help the development of a transparent nuclear program and it may cause countries to believe, even more, that Iran may be building nuclear weapons. All of this combined can cause friction that may ultimately end in conflicts.
The issue of the past Iranian Presidential elections may also widen the gap between the United States and Iran. For the past couple of protests, the government has blamed the West for influencing these protests. If the government continues to try and stop these opposition protests with police, then this will cause more conflict in Iran between the people who are anti or pro-current government. Also the crackdown on the protesters would lower the United States' view of Iran. But if the United States does not repeatedly mention the suppression of Iran's people, then this issue will continue. Also Iran's leaders have been saying negative statements about America. If Iran keeps on throwing out hateful statements, then the there will be no room for improvements between the United States because the relationship would turn negative. This will affect both Americans and Iranians in a way that will make them view each other with disrespect.
On that note...I thought this quote would fit in quite nicely. This is a statement made by President Obama, yesterday, he said, "We have heard for thirty years what the Iranian government is against; the question, now, is what kind of future it is for." If both Iran and the United States, in the future, keep on looking towards the past then the issues of Iran's presidential election protests and Iran's nuclear program, will not be resolved, thus creating a huge divide between the two countries.

30 Years after Embassy Takeover

On November 4th, 1979, 30 years ago, students in Tehran took over the American Embassy for 444 days. Also during this time Iran was changing from a monarchy to an Islamic Republic. This event caused a huge rift in the relations between the United States and Iran. The United States, right after this event, decided to diplomatically cut off all the ties with Iran. Over the past 20 years, the relationship between Iran and the United States is not as tense, but still is a bit icy. In a statement made today, President Obama wished that both the United States and Iran would look beyond the past and look towards the future.
Many people gathered in Tehran where a government backed Anti-American rally was taking place. Also during this time other protesters were in different parts of Tehran protesting and voicing their opposition towards the current Iranian government. Despite the government's strong efforts to pressure the opposition, protesters are still believe that the presidential elections in June were rigged. Police in Iran warned people not to hold "illegal" demonstrations that would not be a part of the Anti-American rally. Many protesters have been arrested.
The anti-american rally backed by the government sounds a little concerning. But it is important to concentrate your concerns about this Anit-American rally not towards the Iranian people, but towards the government. We cannot move forward if Americans view Iranians has hateful people. Just because a person might be Iranian does not mean that he/she hates America. Although this may sound elementary and simplistic, but many people still do it. What needs to be done is improve relations with Iran. The only way we can do that is if both governments are willing to cooperate. I respect the rights of Iran, but there if needed improvements are necessary to move forward, there must be a willingness from Iran to accept the fact that when working issues out, such as the nuclear program or allowing people to protest about the election, there are going to be things that Iran may not agree with totally. But there must be a willingness on both sides to accept that not everyone is going to get what they want, but in the long run it will improve the relations between the United States and Iran.

Further news articles discussing the events that happened today in Iran.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8341631.stm

Annotated Links

The CIA World Factbook is a useful website to find information about countries around the world. This website contains information such as maps and flags, history, people, government, transportation, and the general basic facts of a country.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html

On the BBC News website, there is a section called country profiles. This is a very handy website. Not only does it provide you with a brief overview of a country, it also provides a list of websites and media resources from that country. It gives the basic facts of the country and a summary of the leaders of that country, but it also talks about the media and how it is controlled in that country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/790877.stm

This is a really interesting interactive timeline from The New York Times website, on the events before and after the Iranian Presidential elections. On each day of the timeline, there are pictures or videos to see. Also on the timeline, there is a list of articles that The New York Times covered for that day or event.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/25/world/middleeast/20090625-iranelection-timeline.html

This is a timeline from BBC News about the ties between the United States and Iran. This website provides a list of key events that influenced the ties between the United States and Iran. This timeline illustrates the different changes from each event that would influence how America relates with Iran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3362443.stm

This is the U.S. Department of State website on Iran. This website gives a detailed summary of Iran's history and its government. It also provides information regarding Iran's foreign relations with the world and the relations between the United States and Iran.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5314.htm

Blogging about the Protests in Iran

Freedom of speech can come in many forms. Many use their right of free speech on the Internet. Many Americans turn to blogs to express their thoughts on many different topics. This past summer, there many protesters in Iran after their presidential election. Many believed that this election was rigged. Which made me wonder, what is Iran's view of freedom of speech, of assembly, and of the press? This also made me think...what are blogs like in Iran?
In Iran's constitution it states the following:

Article 24 [Freedom of the Press]

Publications and the press have freedom of expression except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public. The details of this exception will be specified by law.

Also in Iran's constitution it has details about freedom of assembly.

Article 27 [Freedom of Assembly]

Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam.

Although in Iran's constitution backs freedom of the press and freedom of assembly, there have been many people who were arrested for protesting about the Iranian presidential election. There were many bloggers in Iran who blogged about the protests. There are many blogs in Iran, even though many are blocked by government filters. For some more background information, I went on the New York Times blog The Lede, which interviewed an Iranian blogger named Mojtaba Saminejad. Saminejad has been arrested in 2004 and 2005 for blogging about the Iranian government. He, like so many other bloggers and journalists who covered the protests after the summer 2009 elections in Iran are fearful for their careers and lives. Just recently the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated that the continued questioning of Iran's presidential election is a crime.
With the recent breaking news of Iran's Nuclear Program over shadows the protests, and the opinions regarding the protests in Iran. It is difficult for the United States to discuss with Iran about this issue. I do think the United States should hint towards Iran about our concern regarding how the Iranian government is reacting towards the protests, but I do not think that we should just totally influence and recreate a new system of government in Iran. The United States needs to support freedom of speech, and not forgot about it while current negotiations are taking place regarding Iran's nuclear program.

This is from The New York Times website. This is an interesting interactive timeline about the days before, during, and after the Iranian Presidential election.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/25/world/middleeast/20090625-iranelection-timeline.html
This is an Iranian News Blog.
http://irannewsblog.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html

Self Analysis

I have always been interested in international affairs, especially regarding foreign relations of countries. I wanted to blog about the relations of the United States and Iran, regarding Iran's nuclear program because it was always an ongoing and changing issue. I also wanted to blog about the past Iranian presidential election and the protests that came afterward, because I wanted to learn more about it. When I first started this blog I really had to dig deep into my topic. How could I have created valid without any research? I had a vague notion of what was going on, but I had no idea the sorts of details regarding this issue. While writing posts, I researched how the relationship of Iran and the US was in the past, in order to put the current relationship in perspective. I also expanded my knowledge of the United States' view on Iran's nuclear program, and how the United States reacted towards Iran's presidential election. As I expanded my knowledge of my topic, I also grew in my understanding of it and I started to think differently about these issues. I started of thinking that the dialogue between Iran and the United States holds the utmost importance, which it does, but I did not realize how complex it could be. I learned that there are always two sides of this relationship. One side is positive and constructive. This side involves talks and negotiations. The other side is negative and makes the relationship a little tense. This side involves economic sanctions. Also Iran is a country where many people think is a country that supports terrorists. Keeping in mind the different points of views that people have of Iran and also acknowledging the sides of the American and Iranian relationship, I have learned how to create an argument on the side for further talks and negotiations with Iran while realizing the other side of the issue.

The pictures are from the following websites:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/19/midmorning1/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522717,00.html

Iran may or may not accept nuclear proposal

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 5TH, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2ocQGHwmL7ywFisav8bc_ISSnvQ
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has urged Iran to accept the IAEA nuclear proposal. There still has been no official statement from Iran regarding this plan. The United States is concerned that Iran's response may last longer than expected.



UPDATE ON IRAN'S DECISION ON NUCLEAR PROPOSAL: OCTOBER 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/world/middleeast/30nuke.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
On October 29th Iran rejected the nuclear plan to send out most of its uranium to other countries. The main purpose of this plan was to let Iran send most of its uranium, so there would not be enough uranium to enrich to a nuclear weapon. And when the other countries return the enriched uranium, it would be in the form of fuel rods, which are used for energy and are difficult to use for nuclear weapons. Iran wanted to keep the uranium they have currently and buy enriched uranium from other countries.
correction (11/1/09): In this update it seems as though Iran's rejection is definite. Although many head leaders of Iran have expressed their rejection of this plan, there still has been no official public statement.






Iran said that it might accept the proposed nuclear agreement that was created during the talks with Iranian, French, American, and Russian diplomats in Vienna on October 21st. Is Iran purposely leaving everyone confused about its future plans? Is Iran trying to lengthen this in order to secretly continue its nuclear plans? Iran is schedule to give a response to the IAEA and the UN, on this plan, by tomorrow. In the deal it states that Iran should send its uranium to Russia and France in order for the uranium to be enriched 20%. But Iran wanted to purchase 20% enriched uranium from other countries. The final decision is up to The Supreme National Security Council in Iran. But what happens if Iran disagrees with the plan and does not accept it? It would be a huge setback for the future of Iran's nuclear program and the relations between Iran and the United States. The future of the relationship between Iran and the US cannot be constructive if Iran does not accept this plan. It is the concern of the United States and many other nations that Iran might be building nuclear weapons. Through this plan of Iran sending most of its uranium to other countries to be enriched, might settle some fears about the possibility of Iran having enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons. But does not Iran have a right to disagree with certain parts of this plan? Iran is probably thinking of the best ways that will help grow their nuclear program in order to use nuclear energy peacefully. The only problem is that there are doubts to how peaceful is the nuclear program. Countries, like the United States, doubt the peaceful purposes of this nuclear program and this also influences the diplomacy and building of a transparent and more constructive relationship with Iran. It will be interesting to see if Iran agrees with the plan. If not, then there will be more talks with Iran, lengthening this process and this could hinder the relationship that Iran and the United States were trying to build.

This article is from the Tehran Times. It is discussing the feeling the leaders of Iran have towards the IAEA proposal created in Vienna.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=206587

This article is from BBC News. It is discussing about Iran's ideas of changing parts of the proposal.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8327558.stm

This article also discusses Iran's wishes of changing parts of the nuclear proposal.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20091028_Iran_seeks_changes_to_nuclear_deal.html

The picture is from this website.
http://www.iranian.com/main/2009/oct/balance-deterrence-or-catastrophe