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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