Iran Expert in a Semester By: Jon Doe III

Iran ●Has been known to be Anti-American/Israel ●8 year war, against Iraq ●2005 Iran says that it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes. ●Iran has tried to keep its nuclear plans a secret, creating the perception around the world that they are trying to create a bomb. ●The U.S. has had trade sanctions on Iran for the last 30 years.

Iran Arrests 3 Foreigners on Suspect Trip to Iraq 8/9/14 ●Iran’s detaining foreigners traveling to join ISIS in neighboring Iraq. ●The foreigners are from Pakistan and Afghanistan. ●Iran is a supporter of Iraq against ISIS. ●Anti-militant campaign/Military advisers in Iraq. ●Threat to Sunnis living along border. ●ISIS is recruiting from Iran html

Isis Fight Raises Fears That Efforts to Curb Iran WIll Slip 9/11/14 ●#1 goal for U.S. is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. ●Isis has created an opportunity for the U.S. to improve relations with Iran. ●U.S. is afraid Iran will ask for concessions in exchange for their help. (leverage) ●Israel is very worried and believes a nuclear Iran is a 50 year problem and Isis is a 5 year problem. ●This is creating a U.S. strategy of communicating with Iran about ISIS, but not coordinating. recede.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C{%222%22%3A%22RI%3A12%22}&_r=1

Iran and China deepen a “blue water’ Friendship 10/28/14 ●Two Chinese warships arrive in Iran to improve relations. ●Building a naval alliance that will stretch from the Pacific to the Persian Gulf. ●Iran and China are have plans for greater maritime cooperation. ●China is looking for an ally who will side with them on issues such as Taiwan. ●China needs oil and gas and Iran needs to offset western sanctions. ●Blue water represents a navy capable of long voyages in open sea. ●With the help of China, Iranian regional power and influence is evolving and expanding. china-deepen-a-blue-water-friendship/

Iran says that OPEC meeting unlikely to lower output ceiling 11/27/14 ●OPEC- Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ●Iran needs high prices to offset sanctions on oil exports. ●Iran is trying to get support for cutting output which would raise prices. The cut would be the first since ●Lower oil prices due to large supply and weakening demand. ●Iran needs to start making its budget less reliant on oil. 10/27/iran-oil-opec- idUSL5N0SM3SR

Germany: Nuclear talks with Iran nearing “make or break” moment for deal 12/7/14 ●Iran is in high level talks with 6 nations to curb its nuclear ambitions and get rid of its trade embargo. ●The west has a time limit to come up with a plan to stop Iran’s nuclear program. ●Iran says that they only want the reactors for creating peaceful power. The U.S. says that they are only building nuclear reactors to create nukes later. ●Russia looking to build 6 peaceful nuclear reactors in Iran. In order to do this they will need to have a plan for the old fuel rods. ●The first and only nuclear plant was completed by the Russians a few years ago. It was started by the Germans in the 1970’s Wasn’t until last year that it became functioning. a622dae742a2_story.html

In my opinion the United States has no choice but to take a soft stance with Iran. The United States and Iran have too many strings attached in todays global economy. Now that relations are improving between Iran and China and Iran and Russia it makes the U.S. job of preventing them from getting nuclear weapons a complicated one. I see relations between the U.S. and Iran will have to improve. With revenue from oil sales down and trade embargos on Iran they will want to improve their own economy. The only way to do that is to do what is necessary to remove the sanctions. What surprised me was that it’s interesting that the U.S. and Iran are talking? Thanks to ISIS and the mutual benefit of peace in the region the U.S. and Iran have had no choice but to improve relations. It would be a shame if these countries couldn’t take advantage of the situation. I’m curious as to what the relations between the U.S. and Iran will look like in the future. Maybe someday we will see an American President visiting Iran like Richard Nixon visiting China. It’s in Iran’s best interest to improve relations with the U.S. and the rest of the world. They are a big part of the regional and world economy. By improving relations and dropping their nuclear weapons program then maybe trade sanctions against Iran will be dropped.

Work Cited 1.Karimi, N. (2014). Iran arrests 3 foreigners on suspect trip to Iraq. The Associated Press: ABC News. Retrieved on 8/92014 from 2.Sanger, S.E. (2014). ISIS fight raises fears that efforts to curb Iran will slip. The New York Times. Retrieved on 9/11/2014 from 3.Iran and China deepen a ‘blue water’ friendship. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2014, from UPDATE 1-Iran says OPEC meeting unlikely to lower output ceiling. (2014, October 27). Retrieved November 13, 2014, from 5.Germany: Nuclear talks with Iran nearing 'make-or-break' moment for deal. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2014, from a622dae742a2_story.html