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Iran: In Depth
Get a Deeper Understanding of the Crisis
LAST UPDATED: Oct 6, 2024
Why We Are In Conflict With Iran? The Background.
IRAN, A Major Sponsor of International Terrorism
Since the 1980s and the Cultural Revolution that overthrew and converted the Iranian government into an Islamic state, Iran's relationship with the international community has been very, very difficult. Iran had been involved in sponsoring Islamic military/terrorist actions against Western and Pro-Western countries all over the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Iran had also chosen to develop ballistic missiles (which it currently has) that can reach the entire Middle East and to develop nuclear weapons (which it doesn't have yet, but has active programs to develop). Preventing Iran, a well-known sponsor of Islamic Terrorism, to gain nuclear weapons and to terrorize the entire Middle East was something the International Community had chosen to take a stand against.
International Sanctions
Wikipedia Article: List of Sanctions
THE GOAL: Get Iran to willingly stop supporting terrorism and stop developing nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. Get Iran to 'return' to good standing and peaceful actions and trade with the International Community.
Iran, like many Persian Gulf countries, it is a major producer of oil and natural gas. The International Community, led by the U.S., organizes economic sanctions against Iran which includes embargos on Iran selling it's oil and natural gas on the world market. Iran's response had been, if they can't ship oil through the Persian Gulf then nobody can, and so for decades the Iranian military has been known to harass, seize, and attack commercial shipping ('oil tankers') and confront British and U.S. navy ships in international waters of the Persian Gulf.
To accomplish this 'embargo' and to protect commercial shipping ('oil tankers') in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy has two Navy bases on the Persian Gulf in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which is home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet. These bases occupy previous British bases established in World War II.
Aug 2019 | 9min | Vox News
Why the US and Iran are fighting over this tiny waterway.
Dec 2020 | 4min | U.S. State Dept (under Trump)
U.S. Policy on Iran Sanctions, Explained
Middle East GeoPolitics
The Middle East's Cold War, explained
July 2017 | 10 min | Vox
Why Israel and Iran are Enemies
Dec 2023 | 13 min | DW News (Germany)
Why some Arab states side with Israel
June 2024 | 14 min | DW News (Germany)
Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia - Part 1
Jan 2020 | 2 hours | PBS Frontline
[ Watch Part 2 on YouTube ]
Experts Discuss Iranian history, current affairs, and Iranian military doctrine
Dec 2020 | 49 min | U.S. Army
The History behind the US-Iran Conflict
Feb 2020 | 11 min | TRT World
Iran - World's Leading Sponsor of Terrorism
Iran - Exporting Terrorism
Part 3: The Fatwa Advocate in London
Feb 2022 | 9 min | IranWire
Iran - Exporting Terrorism
Part 4: Hezbollah and Iran’s Other Terrorist Proxies
Feb 2022 | 11 min | IranWire
Iran - Exporting Terrorism
Part 5: The Killings of Abdorrahman Boroumand and Shapour Bakhtiar
Feb 2022 | 22 min | IranWire
The Tanker War of 2019 - The Persian Gulf
BBC News: Iran and the crisis in the Gulf explained - Aug 2019
The Strait of Hormuz in The Persian Gulf:
The Choke Point That Rules the World
18min | RealLifeLore
The Strait of Hormuz: Why is it the focus of Iran-U.S. tensions
June 2019 | 5 min | BBC News
Why the Persian Gulf is a flashpoint for Iran-U.S. tensions
June 2019 | 4 min | Washington Post
Warship Defends British Tanker from Iranian Gunboats
July 10, 2019 | 5 min | OpsRoom
Iran Seizes British Tanker Stena Impero
July 19, 2019 | 4 min | OpsRoom
Iranian Warship Closes in on British Warship HMS Duncan
August 2019 | 4 min | Channel 5 UK
Britain's Warship HMS Duncan Escorts British Tanker Through Dangerous Waters Of Iran
August 2019 | 44 min | Warship: Life at Sea
British Warship HMS Duncan Rescues British Hostages from Tanker Stena Impero Seized by Iran
Sept 2019 | 44 min | Warship: Life at Sea
Mini-Documentary
The British-Iranian Confrontation of 2019: The Tanker War
June 2023 | 18 min | Liveth For Evermore
The Tanker War of the 1980s - The Persian Gulf
A protracted series of armed skirmishes between Iran and Iraq against merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz from 1984 to 1988. The conflict was a part of the larger Iran–Iraq War. The United States intervened in the conflict in 1986 to "protect" Kuwaiti tankers and subsequently engaged in an armed confrontation with Iran. [ see Wikipedia Article ]
Historical Review
Remembering the 'Tanker War' of the 1980s
Dec 2019 | 14 min | CaspianReport
Military History
The Tanker War
5 min | U.S. Central Command
UK News Archives
Iran-Iraq War - Strait of Hormuz - Gulf Conflict
June 1984 | 21 min | ThamesTv
Military History
Accidentally Backing Into a Mine To Start the Largest Navy Battle Since WW2
April 1988 | 11 min | Dark Seas
Military History
The One Day War with Iran (1988)
20 min | OpsRoom