Click here to read the Economist article "Sanctions on Iran: And the price of nuclear power?". This article discusses how Iran continues to defy the international community by further enriching uranium. The article talks about how it is becoming harder and harder for countries to say Iran simply wants to make fuel for nuclear power. That combined with Iran's suffering economy and mismanaged oil investing and development may cause Iran to have to start importing oil. Other countries in the region might replace Iran's oil production and make sanctions less painful for countries like China who get oil from Iran. Russia recently didn't sent a shipment of advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, who it sells weapons to. The United States has been leading countries from not trading with or financing things in Iran, which is both hurting Iran and starting to transition them out of global trade. With Iran already falling out of the global economy, economic sanctions will be less painful for the international community and will also hurt an already struggling Iran. This will also affect Iran's domestic politics, causing more resentment towards the government and their president Ahmadinejad. In 2005 the United States Treasury Department banned a bank that was helping with North Korea, therefore causing foreign banks to stop dealing with North Korea. The same thing has been applied to Iran, making over 80 foreign banks stop working with Iran, causing all sorts of problems for Iran. This is important because it shows how much damage economic sanctions can do. Economic problems can affect government legitimacy, public policy, international trade, and global security. Public opinion in Iran will most likely change if their economy worsens. Money seems to be the determining factor in Iran's nuclear ambitions. Grade this post.

Post #5: Iranian Authorities Arrest Sunni Militant Leader

Click here to read the BBC News Article "Iran Jundullah leader claims US military support", written on February 26th.
Iranian Stave Television has released a videotaped statement of recently arrested Sunni militant leader Abdolmalek Rigi, in which Rigi claims that he recieved support for his actions from the United States Government. Rigi was the leader of Jundullah (translated as 'Soldiers of Allah'), a Sunni militant group founded in 2002 to defend the Baluchi minority in south-east Iran. The group has been linked to a variety of attacks throughout Iran, including one in October 2009 that killed 31 people, including six top Revolutionary Guard commanders.
Rigi was captured on February 23, while on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.
In the video Rigi claims that contact with the US was made after the November 2008 election, and took place in Quetta, Pakistan. Rigi alleged that the US promised to aid Jundullah through cooperation, as well as providing weapons, equipment, and a base, as well as freeing prisoners.
It is unknown whether or not Rigi made the statements under duress, but the US has denied any accusations of assissting Jundullah.
Iran, which is predominately Shia, has linked Jundullah to al-Qaeda, which is predominately Sunni, as well as to Pakistan, Britain, and America.
This relates to what we have been learning in Comparative Government because it deals with how Iran treats its ethnic and religious minorities, as Jundullah is a Sunni militant group in a Majority Shi'a country, created in order to bring attention to the treatment of an Iranian minority group. There is also the question of whether or not Rigi was forced to make his statements under duress, which relates to the country's treatment of its prisoners. Lastly, it deals with Iranian foreign policy as Iran has accused Pakistan, America, and the United Kingdom of working with Jundullah.


Image courtest of BBC News
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Post #5: Another Puzzle After Iran Moves Nuclear Fuel

Click here to read The New York Times article, "Another Puzzle After Iran Moves Nuclear Fuel," dated February 26, 2010. When Iran was discovered building a nuclear enrichment plant last September, no one would have predicted that Iran would transfer its entire stock of fuel to an above-ground facility. Two weeks ago, however, Iran moved the entirety of its fuel above ground, resulting in much speculation and debate regarding the country's intentions. Current theories suggest that Iran was trying to goad the Israelis into an attack or looking to win greater concessions in negotiations with the West. The Obama administration is subscribing to the idea that Iran had simply run out of storage space below ground. Much confusion continues to surround the issue. Since October, unexpected events have occurred beginning with President Ahmadinejad's move away from a deal with the West and culminating with Iran's declaration that it will soon manufacture 10 new plants, a number far exceeding its capacity, and its refusal to respond to inspectors about potential weapon development. In addition to evaluating Iran's technical abilities, the United States is trying to understand Iran's political goals. This whole debate was sparked by a sentence in the International Atomic Energy Agency's latest report claiming that Iran had transported 4,300 pound of uranium to a small storage plant above ground for enrichment to 20 percent. Americans continue to remain distant due to the issue's reliance on three uncertainties: the possibility of an Israeli attack leading to a Middle Eastern war, or an end to enrichment via sanctions and diplomacy, and the question as to who has control of Iran's nuclear program. One speculation that has had much consideration is the idea that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is hoping for an attack to bring together the country after months of violence and protest by Iranian citizen's, culminating in the renouncement of the Nuclear Noproliferation Treaty. Others support the theory of brinkmanship and believe the Iranians are hoping to use threats to gain greater concessions from Western powers. Some claim that the move was just a mistake or that Iran had no other choice. Regardless of the cause, the Obama administration is set on preventing military action by the Israelis. This article is important because it deals with both international relations and diplomacy, as well as the legitimacy of the Iranian government.

Thanks to geographyphotos of flickr for the image!

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Week #5; Iran's Leader of Opposition Assails "Cult" of Rulers

To read the full New York Times Article click here. On February 11th the opposition party in Iran attempted to hold a protest but very few people showed up due to government crackdowns and the thousands of government forces that had been bused in. This has led an opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, to very critically and publicly say that Iran was being ruled by a dictatorial "cult" and the week before another opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi called for a gauge of the government's popularity through a national referendum which the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded to by saying that there would be no compromise with any opposition. This article relates to what we have been learning about in Comparative Government because it demonstrates how the government is using any means necessary to gain legitimacy among the people.

**Thankyou to the New York Times for the picture.

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Article #4 Ayatollah Khamenei Denies Nuclear Weapons Development Claims

Click here to read the BBC News Article 'Iran's supreme leader denies nuclear report claims', from February 19th. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini has told Iranian media outlets that any consternation about the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon's program were unwarranted and "baseless", because Iranian beliefs "bar us [Iranians] from using such weapons".
The Ayatollah's statement comes a week after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced at a rally celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, that Iran had successfully made its first batch of 20% enriched uranium. The enriching of uranium to 20% is regarded as a major step in the creation of weapons grade uranium.
Iran's increased and continued insistence that it have its own nuclear program has alarmed the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as the P5+1 (US, UK, China, France, Russia, and Germany).
The P5+1 and the IAEA have threatened further sancions against Iran if the country continues to fail to comply with the United Nations over its nuclear energy program.
The Ayatollah's statement regarding Iran's weapon program coincides with the launch of Iran's first domestically produced destroyer, the Jamaran (named after Ayatollah Khomenei's hometown), the ship is equipped with a variety of weaponry and detection software.
The IAEA plans to discuss Iran's energy program from March 1-5, at a meeting between the agency's 35 members.
This article relates to what we are learning because Iran's continued disregard of warnings from both the UN and IAEA call its legitimacy into question. If Iran continues enriching uranium, more sanctions will likely be placed upon the country, decreasing its legitimacy in the eyes of other country's and well as possibly decreasing the likelihood of reaching an agreement in regards to Iran's energy program.

Iraq, Iran and the politics of oil

Click here to read the Economist article "Iraq, Iran and the politics of oil". This article discusses how Iraq is intending on upping their production four and a half fold over the next seven years. Iraq, a member of OPEC, has had their quota for oil production kept at par with Iran for a long time, but now they are asking to have their quota even higher than Saudi Arabia (the highest quota). This would be bad news for Iran, who has been kept afloat by crude oil proceeds and has avoided Chinese economic sanctions because of their deal on oil. If Iraq could replace their oil production, then Iran would be left venerable to tough sanctions and finally a UN Security Council maneuver to deter Iran from further enriching Uranium. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently was in the Middle East trying to get Gulf oil producing countries to reassure that they could make up for any drop in Iranian oil production. All the investment and politics are showing that Iraq would be able to replace Iran if there were sanctions prohibiting them to sell to the UN Security Council members (particularly China, who has been stopping any economic sanctions on Iran). This is important because it shows how important oil is in the global economy and international relations. This article also discusses domestic policy of Iraq, who's oil minister is seeking an easy reelection by promising more oil revenue. And more than anything, this article shows, it really is always about the money. China knows that even if Iran gets the bomb and one or two went missing, they would most likely be used against Israel or the United States, so they are more concerned about keeping the oil flowing. Grade this post.

Current Event #4; Iranians Protest Bill on Rights of Women

To read the full article, Iranians Protest Bill on Rights of Women, click here. Recently, 1,200 Iranians signed a statement against a bill that would further hinder the rights of women. The bill being protested was approved last month by Parliament's legal committee and allows men to marry additional wives without telling their current wives under certain conditions such as, if the wife is absent for more than six months for any reason including imprisonment, or if she has an incurable disease. The bill not only makes a woman's alimony subject to reassessment but has also made alimony taxable. Women have been a very major part of the protests and many have been jailed and several killed in government crackdowns on protests since the vote. Until last month many advocates, including Nobel Peace Prize Laurette Shirin Ebadim, thought they had won the battle but now they fear that conservatives are using the current social unrest to push more restrictions on women. This article relates to what we have been learning about in Comparative Government because the Civil Rights and Liberties of women in Iran are being called into question and this is hurting the legitimacy of Iran as a democracy.

**Thankyou to jsamuelson of Flickr for the image

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Current Event # 4: Clinton Issues Another Warning to Iran

Here is a link to the February 16th, 2010 article titled "Clinton Issues Another Warning to Iran" from The New York Times. According to this article, it seems that the confrontation between the Western powers and Iran regarding Iran's nuclear program is only getting worse. During her speech in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Clinton listed recent Iranian actions contradicting its claim to peaceful intent and has threatened to take action if Iran were to acquire a nuclear weapon. While Iran claims to have begun enriching uranium purely to feed a medical reactor, Clinton claims the evidence proves otherwise. President Ahmadinejad says that Iran is willing to suspend uranium enrichment in exchange for a swap of processed fuel rods. The United States has refused to agree to this exchange. Ms. Clinton recently claimed that Iran was moving towards a military dictatorship ruled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran claimed that America was the country with a military dictatorship in the Iranian rebuttal by its foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. Russia has recently come to the aid of the United States and France and signed a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency claiming that Iran's enrichment of uranium and lack of notification to the I.A.E.A. were "wholly unjustified." While Bejamin Netanyahu of Israel tried to convince Russian president Medvedev to take a greater role in the opposition of Iran, Russia refused and continues to support cooperation with Iran. In response to American criticism, Iran has negatively portrayed Washington via its English broadcaster, Press TV. Clinton is now urging Iranian political and religious leaders to take a stand against the Revolutionary Guards before a full military dictatorship has been instated. While France is fully behind the Obama administration and its recent actions and sanctions, Russia has taken a more ambivalent stance in regards to Iran. This article is significant because it involves international factors influencing policy making, regional clevages (hence Russia's lack of support), and threats to international security.

Thanks to US Mission Canada for the photo!

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Iran's missile and uranium salvoes

Click here to read the Economist article "Iran's missile and uranium salvoes". This article discusses Iran's recent launch of a rocket into space, claiming to be for civilian purposes. The actions of Iran are continually in direct opposition to the international community, but suddenly Iran seems to be changing its mind on a deal it dropped out of in the past. Iran might be willing to hand some of its uranium over to be turned into fuel rods for creating electricity after a course of months to a year. Although the three quarters of Iran's stockpile previously sought after might not be how much is put into the deal. Many people now wonder if Iran is just continuing to buy itself more time. Iran could easily conjure up some impossible deal and then use that as the grounds for claiming the international community is being unagreeable and just continuing its pursuit of enriching its uranium. Considering how quickly some nations aquired the nuclear bomb, one can only wonder how much longer it will take or if they already have one, if that is Iran's intent. There is also the possibility that Iran is simply distracting the international community from imposing economic sanctions that China disfavors. This applies to things like supernational organizations, public policy, economic policy, and a country's rights to nuclear weapons. Grade this post.

Post #3: Iran's President Moves Ahead on Uranium Processing

Click here to read The New York Times article, "Iran's President Moves Ahead on Uranium," dated February 7th, 2010. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, recently ordered the production of a form of uranium for use as a power source in one of Tehran's medical reactors. This move has led to intense lobbying on the part of the United States in hopes of convincing other nations to push sanctions prohibiting the production a potential fuel source for nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, a deal involving the exchange of fuel for uranium has fallen through due to the Iranian leadership. This exchange deal would have resulted in the lack of enough fuel to produce a nuclear weapon in Iran, temporarily appeasing Westerners. Although Iran is trying to enrich large quantities of fuel, progress has been slow due to the occurrence of both technical difficulties and opposition from the West. While Iran claims to be open to making a deal, it insists on certain preconditions which would enable Iran to keep much of its current resource stockpile. The Iranian government has portrayed the enrichment of uranium as a fuel source for medical research in hopes of confronting Western opposition and appeasing its citizens. The United States has given Iran until the end of the year to settle the issue. If Iran makes conciliatory gestures, the impact could be deadly due to the reluctance among many countries to take action, resulting in a potential split of the United Nations Security Council. As of now, things in Iran remain fragile, at best. This article is significant because Iran's potential to develop nuclear weapons could result in global implications. As a result, the enrichment of uranium has become a issue of global concern and the United States has taken steps to convince others of the present dangers. This article also deals with the legitimacy of the government and its accompanying linkage institutions as the government portrays the issue in a light favoring the administration and downplaying the seriousness of the matter via the media.

Thanks to Hamed Saber of flickr for the image of the Natanz Nuclear Facility in Iran.

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Post #3, Iran Wants To Step Up Nuclear Proliferation

Click here to read the BBC news article "Iran Makes New Uranium Enrichment Challenge" written on February 7th.

Two days after the Iranian foreign minister claimed that a deal on swapping enriched uranium for nuclear fuel was close, President Ahmadinejad told nuclear chief Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi to enrich the uranium to 20% on national television.
Civilian nuclear power requires uranium to be enriched to 3%, while weapons grade uranium has been enriched to 90%.
In January, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it did not accept the terms set in October of last year by the P5+1 (Germany), Iran and the IAEA.
Earlier this week the U.S., France and Britain circulated a discussion paper considering further sanctions against Iran, although China believes that the P5 must be patient and continue using diplomatic means to resolve the issue.
Iran wants to supply a research reactor with highly enriched uranium following the breakdown of discussions to provide fuel for the reactor. Some Western analysts believe Iran lacks the technical-know-how to make fuel rods, and fear this may be a stepping stone to the creation of weapons grade uranium.
This article relates to what we have been learning because Western countries' public policies are being adapted in order to stop Iran from creating nuclear material, through the use of sanctions. If Iran gains nuclear weapons the legitimacy of their government will be continued to be questioned, and Iran itself may become more unwilling to deal with other countries.

Photo Courtesy of BBC NEWS
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Blog #3 Iran Sends Some Animals, and Some Ambitions Into Space

To read the entire article from The New York Times click here. On Wednesday Iran announced that it launched a rocket, the Kavoshgar-3, into space carrying a rat, two turtles, and worms. The rocket, which is capable of carrying satellites, combined with Iran's missile program has caused many Western analysts to suspect that Iran might be working on a "weapons delivery system" that could affect many different regions. The rocket was also launched a day after the Iranian president said that he might support a deal put forth by the U.S. and other Western countries that would involve the export of low-enriched nuclear fuel. This new remark brings up even more skepticism because just a few days before, Iran had rejected the deal, this flip-flopping of public statements is not helping the government regain legitimacy among it's people and the world. Although Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, President Obama not only said that there would be "consequences" if Iran didn't stop ignoring the UN demands to stop manufacturing nuclear fuel, he has also been seeking international support sanctions against the group that it is believed controls the nuclear arms program, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. This article relates to what we have been learning about in Comparative Government because now both the people of Iran and other nations around the world are questioning the legitimacy of the Iranian government.
**Thank you to The New York Times for the picture
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