Kao Boy
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In this ever changing scene of Middle East, every country has played a key role and key ally to Washington. Washington relations with Tehran is getting better US invites all Middle East leaders to negotiate on Iran Nuclear Deal. US retrieving attention from once closed allies like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and in fact Pakistan is also getting out of sight. Is something really good building between the two nations which can help both of them to play prominent role in the region or is it a mere necessity for Washington and Tehran.
Future will reveal itself and it will be evident soon but US and Iran has never had easy going relation, let's look at the pivotal incidents which created lows and highs in their relations through a time line.
January 1979: Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi flees Iran
The US-backed Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, is forced to leave the country on 16 January following months of demonstrations against his rule by secular and religious opponents. Two weeks later, Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who referred to America as the “Great Satan”, returns from exile.
April 1979: Islamic Republic of Iran formed
Following a referendum, the Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaimed.
November 1979: The Iran hostage crisis:
Angered by the Carter administration allowing the recently deposed Shah into the United States, the revolutionary group Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line occupied the American embassy in Tehran and took 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. On April 24, 1980, a failed rescue – Operation Eagle Claw – resulted in the deaths of eight American servicemen and one Iranian civilian.
The crisis ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords in Algeria on January 19, 1981.
April 1980: The end of diplomatic relations
The United States end diplomatic relations with Iran, a break which has yet to be restored.
1983: Hizbollah bombings
United States implicates Hizbollah, an Iranian movement formed at the time of the Iranian Revolution, in terrorist attacks against the US. Attacks included the United States embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 17 Americans, and the Beirut barracks bombing which killed 241 US peace keepers.
1986: Exchange of weapons
The US provided weapons to Iran, reportedly to fund anti-communist Contras militants in Nicaragua to help free US hostages held by Hizbollah in Lebanon. Reagan administration confirmed that weapons had been transferred to Iran but denied they were part of an exchange for hostages.
1988: Iranian Airbus shot down
US Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down commercial airline Iranian Airbus A300B2, killing 290 civilians from six nations, including 66 children. The US says the Airbus A300 was mistaken for a fighter jet that was outside the civilian air corridor and was not responding to radio calls.
April 1995: Clinton administration embargo
A total embargo on dealings with Iran by American companies was imposed by Bill Clinton.
January 2002: “Axis of Evil”
President George W Bush gave his infamous speech describing Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, as an “Axis of evil”.
The president warned that the proliferation of long-range missiles developed by these countries constituted terrorism and threatened the United States.
2002: Uranium development
Iranian opposition group reveals that Iran is developing nuclear facilities including a uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water reactor at Arak. The US accuses Iran of a clandestine nuclear weapons programme, which Iran denied.
August 2005: Ahmadinejad becomes president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voted to become Iran's president
August 2006: UN debate invite turned down
Ahmadinejad invite to President Bush to a debate at the UN General Assembly was rejected by the White House.
September 2006: Financial sanctions
US government imposed sanctions on Bank Saderat Iran barring it from direct or indirect dealings with American financial institutions due to its reported connections with Hizbollah. Further sanctions on the financial sector were imposed by the US and EU in 2012 over Iran’s nuclear development.
2010: Walk out at UN speech
During a 2010 speech to the UN, Ahmadinejad sparks walkouts after he claims that most people believe the US government were behind the 9/11 attacks.
2013: First phone call between US and Iranian heads of state for 30 years
Iran's new President, Hassan Rouhani, held a phone call with President Barack Obama on a trip to the UN forum in New York – the first conversation between US and Iranian heads of state for 30 years. The US president said they both had expressed their determination to solve the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.
Washington and Tehran are showing keen interest in each other exhort that both and other Middle East leaders can reach on a deal which can serve everyone's purpose.
Except the timeline views are of my own based on recent developments on US-Iran Nuclear deal.
Future will reveal itself and it will be evident soon but US and Iran has never had easy going relation, let's look at the pivotal incidents which created lows and highs in their relations through a time line.
January 1979: Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi flees Iran
The US-backed Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, is forced to leave the country on 16 January following months of demonstrations against his rule by secular and religious opponents. Two weeks later, Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who referred to America as the “Great Satan”, returns from exile.
April 1979: Islamic Republic of Iran formed
Following a referendum, the Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaimed.
November 1979: The Iran hostage crisis:
Angered by the Carter administration allowing the recently deposed Shah into the United States, the revolutionary group Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line occupied the American embassy in Tehran and took 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. On April 24, 1980, a failed rescue – Operation Eagle Claw – resulted in the deaths of eight American servicemen and one Iranian civilian.
The crisis ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords in Algeria on January 19, 1981.
April 1980: The end of diplomatic relations
The United States end diplomatic relations with Iran, a break which has yet to be restored.
1983: Hizbollah bombings
United States implicates Hizbollah, an Iranian movement formed at the time of the Iranian Revolution, in terrorist attacks against the US. Attacks included the United States embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 17 Americans, and the Beirut barracks bombing which killed 241 US peace keepers.
1986: Exchange of weapons
The US provided weapons to Iran, reportedly to fund anti-communist Contras militants in Nicaragua to help free US hostages held by Hizbollah in Lebanon. Reagan administration confirmed that weapons had been transferred to Iran but denied they were part of an exchange for hostages.
1988: Iranian Airbus shot down
US Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down commercial airline Iranian Airbus A300B2, killing 290 civilians from six nations, including 66 children. The US says the Airbus A300 was mistaken for a fighter jet that was outside the civilian air corridor and was not responding to radio calls.
April 1995: Clinton administration embargo
A total embargo on dealings with Iran by American companies was imposed by Bill Clinton.
January 2002: “Axis of Evil”
President George W Bush gave his infamous speech describing Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, as an “Axis of evil”.
The president warned that the proliferation of long-range missiles developed by these countries constituted terrorism and threatened the United States.
2002: Uranium development
Iranian opposition group reveals that Iran is developing nuclear facilities including a uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water reactor at Arak. The US accuses Iran of a clandestine nuclear weapons programme, which Iran denied.
August 2005: Ahmadinejad becomes president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voted to become Iran's president
August 2006: UN debate invite turned down
Ahmadinejad invite to President Bush to a debate at the UN General Assembly was rejected by the White House.
September 2006: Financial sanctions
US government imposed sanctions on Bank Saderat Iran barring it from direct or indirect dealings with American financial institutions due to its reported connections with Hizbollah. Further sanctions on the financial sector were imposed by the US and EU in 2012 over Iran’s nuclear development.
2010: Walk out at UN speech
During a 2010 speech to the UN, Ahmadinejad sparks walkouts after he claims that most people believe the US government were behind the 9/11 attacks.
2013: First phone call between US and Iranian heads of state for 30 years
Iran's new President, Hassan Rouhani, held a phone call with President Barack Obama on a trip to the UN forum in New York – the first conversation between US and Iranian heads of state for 30 years. The US president said they both had expressed their determination to solve the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.
Washington and Tehran are showing keen interest in each other exhort that both and other Middle East leaders can reach on a deal which can serve everyone's purpose.
Except the timeline views are of my own based on recent developments on US-Iran Nuclear deal.