The Islamic Republic of Iran

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Recommended: Political changes in Iran after the Islamic revolution

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a country of volatile politics in the Middle East, participating in numerous minor disputes and full out wars during its history. Its participation in a bloody and indecisive war with Iraq, its sponsorship of terrorist groups such as the Hezbollah and Hamas (Bruno 2011), and its controversial election have all made international bodies raise their eyebrows in the past. However, it is Iran’s nuclear ambitions that truly captured the attention of all nations in the recent months.

The nuclear program of Iran was launched in the 1950’s with the help of the United States (Roe 2007). Iran’s first nuclear power plant, Bushehr I, was initiated with major assistance from the Russian government in 2006. Moreover, Iran has also indicated that it will seek to establish additional nuclear power plants and uranium mines in the future (RIA Novosti 2011). Following this announcement, the United Nations Security Council imposed legally binding sanctions on Iran and froze the assets of those heavily involved with the development of the nuclear program. Over the years, these sanctions were expanded and reinforced by those of individual nations, such as the United States(BBC 2012). While Iran claims that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes, such as energy production, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) November 2011 report acknowledged the opposite. This report details Iran’s research directed towards the development of nuclear weapon capacity and nuclear payload integration into missile delivery systems (IAEA 2011, 8), supporting the United States and European Union’s fears. Tensions have run high in the world after this announcement, leading to even more crippling sanctions against Ira...

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.... The Iran people should not have to suffer for their government’s actions, especially not so when the popular support for Ahmadinejad is so low (Economist 2012). The current model is extremely negative and causes antagonism against the West. A new model involving nuclear talks and diplomacy is superior to and should replace the current model of sanctions and embargos. In addition, this new model will surely work. Facts are the best indicators of the strength of the proposed model: the oil prices fell just after the announcement of Iran’s agreement to participate in further talks about Tehran’s nuclear programme in Baghdad (Blas 2012). If the trend of open diplomacy and positive negotiation continues, Iran can probably pull itself out of the isolated financial system, reduce its inflation rate, and finally ameliorate the condition of its currency (Economist 2012).

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