Iranian+Situation

Obama Administration and Iran By: Adam D'Anna A monumental challenge to the Obama Administration will be in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Our nation currently has less than stellar relations with the Republic following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. This includes the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Iran-Contra Affair, the current American hikers being held by Iran, our support of Israel (Iran’s main enemy), and Iran’s nuclear capabilities. George Bush labeled Iran as an “Axis of Evil”, but the Obama Administration has tried to improve relations. Change with relations between Iran and the United States began immediately after Obama was elected as Iranian President Ahmadinejad sent him a congratulatory message. This was the first time a leader in post-revolution Iran had done that. This was most defiantly a good sign. Obama responded by sending a video to the Iranian people. He said that Iran could and should become a functional member of the international community, but that they needed to make a few changes. For starters, the biggest issue the US has with Iran is nuclear proliferation. Iran continuously said that there nuclear power is only for peaceful purposes. However, evidence has come out that they are attempting to build a nuclear bomb. This would completely destabilize the region. Iran has said that Israel should be wiped off the map. As Israel’s best ally, it is our job to protect them from these threats. However, Iran has showed some willingness to negotiate by negotiating with the European Union, which the US continues to support. These talks may be slightly productive for improving relations, but Iran has repeatedly broken agreements and has proven to be completely untruthful. Iran claims that their nucleur plants are only for civilian purposes, but evidence has shown that Iran is attempting to build a bomb. There have been enrichment facilities discovered at places such as the secret Natanz facility about 200 miles south of Tehran. Iran has also violated international resolutions with various weapons testing and has repeatedly made threats against the United States and Israel. Iran lost even more credibility during the June elections. Ahjmadinijad overwhelmingly was reelected in an election that was widely known as rigged. This resulted in massive protests in Iran in which the government was severly criticized for cracking down so violently. The United States were one of the condemning nations of the Iranian government, but only for the violent crackdown rather than the actual election rigging. The bottom line is, Iran is a very unstable nation which may undergo changes due to its massive opposition following the elections. The opposition could bring about some freedoms for Iranians and could possibly reduce their conservative hard line stance. Improving relations with Iran could stablise the region, reduce its threat to Israel, and even supply us oil. We have offered Iran a timetable for accepting direct dialect, but so far they have not responded. Neil Edwards, a senior at Hopewell Valley Central High school says he supports Obama proposal of drect dialect as a “good step one for decreasing tension between our two nations”. He went on to say that he doesn’t believe Iran will respond to this proposal, but it would “increase pressure on the rougue nation”. Iran has proven to be an unreliable nation and has repeatedly broken non proliferation agreements. “Because of this, Iran deserves to be sanctioned, as they already are”, Edwards added. Edwards still believes there is hope though. “The opposition may create more freedoms for Iranian citizens and could make the government a little friendlier”. This, he believes, could cause Iran to start open dialect and abandon its nucleur aspirations.

Editorial on Obama’s Iranian Policy The United States and nearly the whole International Community know that Iran is a major threat to itself and the world in general. It did not always used to be this way. Iran was a major diplomatic ally of the United States until the 1979 revolution overthrew the Shah and established an Islamic Republic. The new regime demonstrated its affection towards the United States by holding almost its entire embassy staff hostage in Tehran. What a wonderful way to start a relationship! These actions by Iran along with countless others should show us how Iran is not to be trusted or treated as a member of the International community until drastic changes are made. Currently there are three major issues we have with the Iranians. First and foremost is the issue of nuclear proliferation. Military intelligence shows and even the Iranian government admits that there are nuclear plants being built around Iran. Iran claims that they are for civilian purposes. However, the world fortunately knows better than to trust what Iran says. After all, there president (Ahmadinejad) has is a holocaust denying maniac who runs a government that executes minors, crushes dissent, and supports terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The European Union and Iran are in discussions to end Iran’s nuclear program or at least to send the nuclear fuel to another nation, possibly Russia to enrich. This would prevent Iran from using the nuclear power to make a bomb. These negotiations have been partially successful, but Iran has maintained its hard-line stance. Clearly a nuclear armed Iran is unacceptable. Iran’s sworn enemy, Israel has said that they have not ruled out military measures to crush their nuclear program. Iran has promised to send missiles towards Tel Aviv if Israel does this. This could create a violent war and it is the responsibility of the United States and the international community to prevent this. Obama has made the right move by discouraging Israel from doing this, but at the same time putting more pressure on Iran. This includes encouraging sanctions on Iran and increasing international pressure. The Obama administration has also threatened to increase military aid and spending to Iran’s neighbors in order to build a defense umbrella. This would threaten Iran’s stance as one of the more powerful Persian Gulf nations. As long as Iran is never able to develop a nuclear bomb, Obama has succeeded in this area. Obama had offered Iran a chance to become a part of the international community. In my opinion, this was solely meant to make Iran look worse. After thinking about it, how can anybody expect a nation that does all this become a functional member of society? This is comparable to asking Charles Manson to assimilate to society. It will never happen and Obama knows this. He offered direct dialogue to the Iranians and gave a timetable for them to reply. No reply came, as expected from such a ridiculous government. However, a massive movement is taking place in Iran that could possibly make Iran a civilized nation. In June, a reformist candidate ran for President against the conservative Ahmadinejad. This candidate was the leader of the Opposition party and was named Mir Hossein Moussavi. He was a supporter or easing tensions with the west and more freedoms for Iranian citizens. Last minute polls showed Moussavi with a slight edge. However, Ahmadinejad overwhelmingly won over 60 percent of the vote. This did not seem to make sense statistically. Widespread outcries of fraud led to massive protests across Iran. This led to a violent crackdown from Iran’s revolutionary guard and police. Hundreds were arrested and allegedly beaten and tortured. Considering it is Iran, I do not doubt these accusations. At this point, rigging an election does not give you the benefit of the doubt. The resistance has seemed to slow down a little as time goes by. However, there still is a chance that there could be significant changes. Obama is waiting to see what happens. He claims to be neutral, but clearly any human with a heart is supporting the opposition. The opposition is looking for legitimacy and the United States should give them their support. This could cause massive changes in Iran. The nuclear problem would go away and the region would be a lot more stable. The Iranian opposition party has more on its shoulders than they can imagine.

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Annotated News Article: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/03/iran.protests/index.html

Iranian protester: 'We are not radicals, not against Islam'

CNN talked to one of the thousands of Iranian protestors aligning themselves with the opposition. He admitted that protesting was possibly a death wish and was too afraid to give his full name. Also, he and his fellow protestors had already been beaten and some even shot by the Iranian authorities. The Iranian government has denied any role in the killing of protestors. He said this is due to the protestors own violence. The protestor vowed to continue since obtaining democracy is something he has to do. He also added that they can not turn radical like the current regime. The Obama administration has condemned the crackdown, but has not directly supported the opposition.

Photo:

This is a map of Iran in the middle east. It shows the strategic importance of the country. It is in the middle of rich oil fields and right between Iraq and Afghanistan, two places where our troops are. Also, Iran's access to major bodies of water is more than adequate while Iran's sheer size even makes it an important nation. If Iran obtained a nuclear bomb, this already dangerous area of the world could possibly be in chaos.

Annotated Blog:

http://stop.torturing.us/

This blog was posted May 8th, before the disputed elections. It showed how the Iranian government was still one huge human rights violation. This blog shined the spotlight on Farzad Kamangar, an IRanian human rights leader and teacher, to death. The government claims he endangered national security. He was tortured and forced to confess. His lawyer claims that his trial was less than five minutes and in a non-public place which would go against Iran's constitution. This just goes to show that Iran did not suddenly become an election rigging nation overnight, yet the Obama administration still claims to have faith in them.