The Islamic Republic of Iran: a country famous for making those independent movies you claim
to enjoy but... you actually never watched them.
This country is well known too as for being
one of the main enemies for America, Europe
and, in general, the democratic world.
And of course, there are many reasons to believe
so! Iran is an Islamic theocracy where the
Head of the State is not even a politician
but a religious leader: the Ayatolah Jamenei.
Their legal system is based on the sharia
law, tortures and executions are a widely
common.
And it this was not enough, the Government
funds several terrorist groups all across
the planet.
Specially, this one called HIZBULLAH.
But... Hold on a second!
All of the above is ALSO TRUE in Saudi Arabia.
Nonetheless, Saudies are one of the main allies
for the Americans and hold commercial relationships
with the rest of the world.
So Why Iran is so bad and Saudi Arabia is
so good?
Many would believe the reason is as simple
as oil.
But the truth is: Iran has the 4th biggest
oil resources in the whole planet.
And their crude is quite similar to that one
in Saudi Arabia.
However, just one year ago, they have a
ban to sell it to most of the countries.
Yes, you heard it right: during years, both
America and Europe didn't want to buy anything
that could come from this country.
So now you might wonder: Why Iran is such
a threat to international security while other
countries as radical as them are way-better
treated?
Today, we are gonna answer to that question.
But first, let's take a look at history.
THE FIRST ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
Until the 70s, Iran was one of the most glamourous
dictatorships in the World.
The so-called SHAH from PERSIA, our good friend,
MOHAMMED REZA PAHLEVI ruled over the country
with an iron fist.
At the same time, he and his wife, FARAH DIVA,
where gossip magazines stars.
And yes, I said our 'good friend' because
the SHAH of Persia was a great ally for the
United States and a good friend of the free
world.
As we said, Iran holds the 4th largest oil
reserves in the world.
Plus, they have over 80 million habitants
and a highly educated population when compared
with their neighbouring countries.
This said, Iran is a crucial spot in order
to control the Middle East region.
Nonetheless, while the SHAH was travelling
all across the globe, enjoying a lifestyle
that would make Kanye West look like a humble
dude, his country was getting ready for a
revolution.
And now you might wonder Was it a communist
revolution?
An Islamic one?
Well... initially, the Iranian opposition
was very heterogeneous.
Unlike Saudi Arabia, Iran, or, as it was known
before, the PERSIAN empire, has a long history
and sophisticated culture.
So among this opposition groups you could
find pro Western liberals, Marxists, social
democrats and, of course, radical islamists.
The latters had just one difference with the
others.
They had a leader: the AYATOLA HOMEINI.
Despite living on the exile in Paris, he had
a great charisma and reputation among the
Iranians.
From his pulpit in Paris, Homeini addressed
to all of those revolutionaries, encouraging
them to take over the power under the promise
of a new and democratic Iran, where Marxists,
liberals and islamists could live together.
And this is how the islamist revolution was
born.
In november, 1979, the revolutionary forces
take over the Government palace and the US
embassy in Teheran.
You might remember Ben Affleck's movie,
ARGO, where you can see the story of the American
workers at the Embassy being taken as hostages
by the Iranians.
Right afterwards, the AYATOLAH HOMEINI would
come back to his country, supported by all
his believers.
And... this is what he said during his first
speech:
'There is no need for an islamic democracy.
It is enough with Islam' --Ayatollah Khomeini
As you can imagine, Khomeini would become
the new leader of the country.
And what was his first goal?
Of course, to eliminate the other revolutionary
groups that helped him take the power.
All those western liberals, Marxists, social
democrats and even moderate islamists where
excluded from the new Islamic Republic of
Iran.
And of course, the relationships with the
United States where absolutely broken.
Well... actually, only kind of broken.
Actually, American and Iran went from being 'friends' to 'it's complicated'.
In one hand, Khomeiny hated the US badly.
But on the other hand, Ronald Reagan, the
American president back in the day, was selling
weapons to the Iranians so they could fight
against their neighbouring country, IRAQ.
Do you remember Saddam Hussein?
Well... he was a common enemy, both for 
Khomeini and Uncle Sam.
During the 90s and the 2000s, relationships
between these two countries will keep the
'it;s complicated' status.
In 1997, Iranians choose a new president,
Mohammed JATAMI, who tried to restore friendship
with US.
But, at the same time, the supreme leader,
who was not Khomeini anymore but this other
one you see on the screen, the Ayatolah Khamenei,
had an evergreen obsession with Israel.
So he was funding a terrorist organization
called HIZBULLAH.
Don't forget that in Iran, the ultimate
decision maker is not the president but this
religious leader who holds the position of
head of the state.
This said, the American president, back in
the time, Bill Clinton, said he would never
befriend a country that wants Israel out of
the map.
Meanwhile, Iran keeps being a divided country.
Despite the majority of their population stands
for radical islam, there is still a big secular
movement.
Nonetheless, something happened in 2005 that
would change the fate of this country.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
Despite what it looks, between the end of
the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, Iran
had flirted with moderation and even secularism.
They even passed a divorce law that included
separation of goods between husband and wife.
Not even that, by the year 2006, 50% of the
students where female.
Of course, Iran was still violation human
rights systematically.
Women where forced to get their head covered
and religious minorities where forbidden.
But don't forget we are talking about an
Islamic Republic.
And in the neighbouring Saudi Arabia, women are not even allowed
to drive!!!
This is how a radical counter reform process
started in Iran.
Tortures and detentions multiplied after this
year.
Police chased those women who wouldn't wear the HIJAB properly and the whole world was
shocked with quotes like this one.
However, the ultimate concern for Washington
was the iranian attempt to build their own
nuclear bomb.
You see... when a Government that publicly
declares their intention to erase Israel from
the map and whose president denies the Jewish Holocaust... it's really scary to imagine
what would they do if they had a nuke.
Add to this the fact that Iran hates Saudi
Arabia badly.
But we will talk about this in another video.
By the way, subscribe now if you don't wanna miss it.
So this is the momento where America and Iran change their relationship status from 'it's complicated'
to 'enemies'.
And the Islamic Republic became a real danger to international stability.
SECURITY COUNCIL IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON IRAN FOR FAILURE TO HALT URANIUM ENRICHMENT,
This sanctions were no little thing.
Do you remember that Iran has the 4th largest crude reserves in the World?
Do you remember that the economy of this country
depends largely on oil exports?
So... imagine what happens where the wealthiest
countries decide to stop buying.
'Since January, Iranian government figures
show the prices of bread, milk and meat have
risen around 20 percent, while the price of
chicken has jumped about 80 percent.'
But hold on a second!
The best is yet to come.
Of course, the economic crisis destroyed Ahmadineyad
reputation.
And his successor, the current president HASSAN ROUHANI, came to power under the promise of
liberal reforms and better relationships with
the West.
But watch out because there is more!
THE ARAB SPRING
Yes, the official religion of Iran is ISLAM.
But not all the islamists are the same.
Iran is a Shia Islamic country.
Inside the muslim world, Shia islam is a minority.
This is one of the reasons why the Iranian
ayatollahs hold so bad relationships with
the Sunni clergies in Saudi Arabia.
And this is the reason why Iran is willing
to do whatever they can to fight DAESH or
Islamic State.
Yes!
Daesh is a sunni muslim terrorist organization.
Add to this the fact that once America retired
its troops from Iraq, the ayatolas funded
the new government in BAGDAD.
This is what explains the following.
Iranian army is fighting the Islamic State,
both in Siria and Iraq.
And this is both a help and a threat to the
United States.
No one wants to remove one radical group to
have a new one, as radical as the previous
one, on the same place.
And yes, this explains why Obama's interest in closing ties with Iran.
In fact, it was a smart movement to hit two
targets in one shot.
In one hand, Obama was sending a signal to
Saudi Arabia, who was not willing to help
him fight DAESH.
On the other hand, he was making sure that
whoever defeats the bad guys will have a good
relationship with the US.
Moreover, he would finally seal an agreement
with Iran in order to stop their nuclear program.
And this is how they closed the famously controversial
Iranian nuclear deal.
Nonetheless, Obama's sucesor, Donald Trump, wants to stop this diplomatic process.
Even though the courts had vetoed his infamous 'Islamic ban', the fact that he included
Iran on the list of countries that cannot
get into American soil is a clear signal.
He is slamming the door to Iran.
And, more importantly, he is showing some
love to Saudi Arabia.
But this is something we are covering more
deeply in another video.
If you want to understand why Donald Trump
is such a good friend of the saudies, click
on this video.
And now here is the last question: Can America
restore their relationship with Iran?
Is it worth it to utilize diplomacy in order
to avoid this country to become more dangerous
and more radical?
You can leave your answer on the comments
below.
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