Keeping up to date with who is saying what to whom, in the Middle East, gets very confusing. It can be like watching an episode of the Kardashian’s and not knowing which sister started the fight.
Picking a side can be tricky if you don’t have the full story. Just ask Kayne.
Okay we’ve tortured that metaphor enough now and obviously, this is just a smidge more worthy of your brain space than Kim’s extended family. A smidge.
Today we’re talking about Iran. A nation that has been in the news a lot lately, particularly around their nuclear program an an international agreement about its future. So, let’s bring everyone up to speed.
Why is Iran in the news at the moment?
Early this week the international community welcomed the successful conclusion of meetings held in Geneva between Iran and the six-world powers- US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. The purpose of these meetings was to achieve some sort of agreement in regards to Iran’s uranium enrichment program.
Iran is regularly the focus of condemnation for this program. America and Israel, have repeatedly accused Iran of attempting to build themselves a nuclear bomb. If this is true, Iran would be in breach of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is the big global agreement that says we aren’t going to use nuclear to blow each other up. Iran is signed up to the treaty.
This treaty does allow Iran to do some nuclear research. But it has to be for peaceful purposes, for example exploring options for nuclear-powered electricity. Iran claims this is all that they are doing, but the international community is pretty suspicious. The fear is that nuclear weapons could be used against neighbours it has long-standing tensions with, like Israel or Saudi Arabia.