Top News US President Donald Trump announced that a US military vessel was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday (18 July 2019). Trump said the Iranian plane was approaching the USS Boxer less than a thousand yards, prompting the ship to carry out "defensive action" that "destroyed the plane", without giving further details..
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, meanwhile, denied that an Iranian aircraft had been shot down in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. "We have no information about the loss of a plane today," Zarif told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterich.
In the meantime, the US Navy announced that it launched a search after the disappearance of the impact of a soldier aboard the aircraft carrier "USS Abraham Lincoln" while sailing in the waters of the Arabian Sea. The fifth US Navy, based in Bahrain, said the missing sea, whose name was kept secret, had hit it Wednesday. He added that the operation launched in search of the missing soldier involved, along with the US aircraft carrier, several American and foreign parts are the American cruiser "USS LITTLE GOLF" and the Spanish frigate Mendez Nunez and the Pakistani military war "BNS origin."
The announcement of the loss of the sea on the same day that Iran announced that it is holding a "foreign oil tanker" and crew on charges of transporting a cargo "smuggled" fuels in the Gulf.
The Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz, which constitutes a transit point for one-third of the world's crude oil transported by sea, are witnessing an escalation of tension against the backdrop of an Iranian-American confrontation.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has strengthened its military presence in the region, citing Iran's "threats" against its interests,.
The United States accuses Iran of being behind attacks and sabotage on four ships in the Strait of Hormuz in May and of two other attacks on two ships in the Sea of Oman.
AFP / AFP / Getty Images)
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Nuclear start
The year 1957 marked the beginning of Iran's nuclear program when the Shah signed a nuclear program agreement with the United States to announce the proposed agreement on cooperation in research and the peaceful uses of atomic energy under the auspices of the Eisenhower Corn for Peace program. In 1967, he founded the Tehran Nuclear Research Center. But Iran's signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968 made it subject to inspection and investigation by the International Energy Agency.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
End Western intervention in the nuclear program
The overthrow of the Shah and the creation of an Islamic republic in Iran in 1979 made relations between Iran and Western countries marked by a rift. The nuclear program became dormant after Western companies withdrew from nuclear projects and supplies of highly enriched uranium.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Search for solutions
In 1981, Khomeini allowed nuclear energy research. In 1983, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cooperated to assist Tehran in the chemical field and design experimental uranium conversion plants, especially at the Isfahan nuclear technology site, but the Western position was generally opposed to such cooperation. With the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, the reactor at Bushehr nuclear power plant was shut down.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Russia intervenes on line, China withdraws!
In the 1990s Iran was supplied with experts on nuclear energy by Russia. In 1992, there were allegations in the international media of the existence of undeclared Iranian nuclear activities, which led Iran to call on IAEA inspectors to visit the nuclear facilities, and the inspections concluded that the activities were peaceful. In 1995, Iran and Russia signed a contract to operate the entire Bushehr plant, while China withdrew from a project to build a uranium conversion plant.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Tehran Declaration and ElBaradei's visit to Iran
In 2002, the IAEA asked to visit two nuclear sites that were said to be undeclared, but Iran did not allow this until six months after the news spread. In 2003, Mohamed ElBaradei, former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited Iran for clarification on the resumption of uranium enrichment activities and issued a negative report on Iran's cooperation.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Tightening and pulling
In 2004, the IAEA issued a resolution demanding that Iran answer all outstanding questions, facilitate immediate access to all sites the IAEA wanted to visit, and freeze all activities related to uranium enrichment to a level capable of producing nuclear fuel and fissionable cargo. But former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after his election, worked to activate the nuclear program and did not care about Western threats, and founded the Arak heavy water reactor.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
New chapter
In 2006, IAEA members voted to refer the Iranian file to the UN Security Council, which imposed a ban on supplying Iran with the necessary equipment to enrich uranium and produce ballistic missiles. Iran responded by suspending the Additional Protocol and all forms of voluntary cooperation. In the same year, Iranian President Ahmadinejad announced his country's success in enriching uranium by 3.5 percent. A picture of the delegation of Qatar during the vote on the resolution.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Secret nuclear reactors
In 2009, some US, British and French officials spoke through the media about Iran building a nuclear reactor on the outskirts of Qom, as they said it was under ground and built in secret, without Iran telling the IAEA. And considered it merely an allegation.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
On the outskirts of the solution
In 2014, it was agreed to stop the US freeze of billions of dollars in Iranian funds, as Iran stopped converting 20 percent enriched uranium into fuel. In the same year, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization made adjustments to the Arak facility to ensure a lower production of plutonium.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Historic Agreement
In 2015, after a series of meetings, in Vienna, a final agreement was announced, called a framework agreement, on Iran's nuclear program. The agreement brings the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, France and Germany to Iran. The agreement was likely to end threats and confrontation between Iran and the West.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
The ambitions of her own accord!
Barack Obama, the former US president, was one of the heads of state in line with Iran on the nuclear program, who saw the step as a guarantee of world security. In return, his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rowhani said that his country achieved all its goals through the agreement. But things have not been stable, especially with Iran's desire to develop its nuclear program, without drawing attention to it.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
America withdraws
The latest developments in the nuclear deal were Tuesday, 8 May 2018, when US President Donald Trump announced the decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, pledging that his country would impose "the highest level of economic sanctions on the Iranian regime." In this regard, Tehran has expressed its unwillingness to enter into new rounds of tough negotiations with America.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
The terms of any "new agreement"
After the US withdrawal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced 12 US conditions for a "new agreement". These conditions included tough demands on the nuclear program, Tehran's ballistic programs, and Iran's role in the Middle East. Pompeo threatened Iran with "the strongest sanctions in history" if it did not comply with US conditions.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Washington tightens the screws
The Trump administration imposed its first sanctions package in August and was followed by another in November. These sanctions included the disruption of financial transactions and imports of raw materials as well as punitive measures in the fields of automobile and civil aviation. In April of 2019, the United States listed Iran's Revolutionary Guard on its black list of "foreign terrorist organizations", as well as the Quds Force in charge of external operations of the Revolutionary Guards.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Europe chirps outside the squadron
On January 31, 2019, Paris, Berlin and London announced the creation of a swap mechanism known as INSTEX to allow EU companies to continue trade with Iran despite US sanctions. The mechanism has not yet been implemented, as rejected by Iran's top leadership. EU Foreign Minister Federica Mugherini stressed "our continued full support for and full implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran," calling on Iran to adhere to it.
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Nuclear program – stations of Iranian tension and Western attraction
Tehran responds
In May, Tehran decided to suspend some of its commitments to the landmark nuclear deal in 2015 with major powers a year after the US decision to withdraw from the agreement. The Islamic Republic has warned it will resume uranium enrichment beyond the limit of 60 days if the Europeans do not protect it from US sanctions. Mariam Marghish / Khaled Salama
