As early as 1995 the US accused Iran of beginning to pursue a nuclear weapons program and imposed an oil and trade embargo.

Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Khamenei are the leaders of Iran currently.

In 2002, Iran announced that it has been pursuing construction of nuclear power plant for the purpose of enhancing fuel possibilities

The US and many others believe this was a coverup for their nuclear weapons program.

2003- Iran granted inspections to the IAEA IAEA reported undeclared nuclear sites and materials in violation

of the NPT Iran persisted on its claim that the intention of the plutonium was

not for weapons

The UN took the Iranians at their word and did not impose sanctions 2004- Pakistan admitted giving nuclear technology to Iran 2005- Iran continues to produce without SC sanctions China and Russia blocked most sanctions throughout the middle of the

decade citing their rights to develop this fuel.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won his reelection campaign on June 12, 2009, by a landslide victory, taking almost 63% of the vote, while main challenger, Mir Hussein Moussavi, received just under 34%.

Accusations of ballot tampering and fraud led to wide-scale protests in Tehran

Ahmadinejad's victory was announced just two hours after the polls closed, an amazingly short period of time since Iran's paper ballots must be hand counted.

The protests, the largest since the 1979 revolution, continued after the election.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the election "fair" and ruled out a recount or an annulment of the election.

As many as 1,000 people were arrested during the protests and 20 were killed. There were widespread reports that prisoners were abused and some raped while in custody.

In August, mass trial of 100 government critics began. The defendants, who were reportedly charged with inciting a "velvet coup," were denied access to lawyers and contact with family members.

Homosexuals Women http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=xou92apNN4o&feature=related (Women and Homosexuals)

In November 2010, President Ahmadinejad acknowledged that Iran's nuclear program had been dealt a blow in when its facility at Natanz was attacked by a computer worm, called Stuxnet.

The worm destroyed about 1,000 of the country's 6,0000 centrifuges. Israel and the U.S. are believed to be behind the attack in an attempt to slow Iran's progress toward obtaining nuclear weapons.

Diplomatic cables released in November 2010 by WikiLeaks revealed that many Arab leaders fear Iran's growing nuclear power and have privately persuaded the United States to intervene.

A cable from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Washington urged the U.S. to "cut off the head of the snake," referring to Iran. The cables also indicated for the first time that the U.S. believes Iran has acquired missiles from North Korea that could strike parts of Western Europe.

Starting in 2006 through today, 6 rounds of UN sanctions were put on Iran with no change in Iranian policy

President Obama came into office vowing to engage Iran diplomatically, and in late 2009 Iran initially accepted an offer under which it would ship some uranium out of the country for enrichment

In 2010 the IAEA declared that Iran had produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel to make two nuclear weapons with further processing. The report said that Iran had expanded work at one of its nuclear sites and also described how inspectors have been denied access to a series of facilities, and how Iran refused to answer inspectors' questions on a variety of activities.

Although many nations in the world have passed unilateral oil sanctions on Iran, China and Russia have not and refuse to have that included in the SC sanctions. The SC sanctions are based on:

arms embargo freeze on Iranian assets abroad Ban the supply of nuclear-related materials and technology Banned Iran from participating in any activities related to

ballistic missiles travel bans on individuals involved with the program prohibit the opening of Iranian banks on their territory prevent Iranian banks from entering into relationship with

their banks if it might contribute to the nuclear program

Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme religious leader of Iran, engaged in a public power struggle in 2011 that suggested a split among Iran's conservative base—the political elite versus the traditional conservatives, led by Khamenei.

It began in April when Ahmadinejad fired the chief of the intelligence ministry, only to have the move rescinded by Khamenei.

In September, 2011 prior to attending the annual meeting of the UN, Ahmadinejad announced that two American hikers who had been imprisoned in Iran on espionage charges for more than two years would be released.

Less than a day later, the judiciary said he lacked the authority to issue the order. The hikers, however, were released later in the month.

In the summer of 2012, Obama administration and its allies imposed sweeping new sanctions meant to cut Iran off from the global oil market. 

The United States imposed sanctions that could punish any foreign country that buys Iranian oil. However, it issued six-month exemptions to 20 importers of Iranian oil, including China.

The EU has put in place a complete embargo of oil imports from Iran.

Iran responded to the new sanctions by announcing legislation intended to disrupt traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and testing missiles in a desert drill clearly intended as a warning to Israel and the United States.

Even before these steps, Iran conceded that its oil exports were down 20 to 30 percent. Its currency has plunged more than 40 percent against the dollar since 2011. But so far the escalating sanctions have failed in their central goal of forcing Iran’s mullahs to stop enriching uranium.

In late August 2012, international nuclear inspectors reported that Iran has already installed three-quarters of the nuclear centrifuges it needs to complete a deep-underground site for the production of nuclear fuel. .

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency lays out in detail how Iran has used the summer to double the number of centrifuges installed deep under a mountain near Qum, while cleansing another site where the agency has said it suspects that the country has conducted explosive experiments that could be “relevant” to the production of a nuclear weapon.

Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said: Israel should be “wiped off the map.” (2005) “The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against

the Islamic world,” (2005) In mid-August, Ahmadinejad, calling the Israeli government “an insult to

humankind” in a speech . Speculation exists about whether the government should decide to order a military

strike on uranium enrichment sites in Iran. Israel considers Iran to be its most dangerous adversary because of Iran’s suspected

nuclear program, missiles capable of hitting Israeli targets and support for militant Palestinian groups on Israel’s borders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-58rUwyykDs Columbia Part I (Israel)

Tension between Iran and Israel intensified in early 2012 as Iran continued to make progress on its nuclear weapons program.

In January, Iran announced it was set to begin uranium enrichment at a second facility.

Iran blamed Israel and the United States for the death of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a nuclear scientist. A bomber on a motorcycle killed Roshan in Tehran during the morning commute in January. It was the fourth attack on an Iranian nuclear specialist in two years.

Then, in February, Israeli officials accused Iran of being involved in multiple terrorist attacks. On Feb. 13, Israeli Embassy personnel in the capitals of Georgia and India were the targets of bombers.

In August 2012, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran's nuclear program had progressed even faster than anticipated.

The report validated Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's suspicion that Iran's nuclear program has continued to move at full speed despite the sanctions and diplomatic isolation imposed on Iran by an international community.

The agency's report also confirmed that 75% of the nuclear centrifuges needed for an underground site had been installed.

Netanyahu indicated that Iran was getting close to crossing the "red line" and that Israel had to determine the appropriate time to act to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Netanyahu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwZW83VH6tA

Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric and Iran's former negoiator on nuclear issues, won June 2013's presidential election, taking 50.7% of the vote.

Thousands of Iranians took to the streets to celebrate Rowhani's victory. While he had the backing of reformists, Rouhani has long been a member of the

country's conservative establishment. He served in parliament for more than 20 years and is loyal to Ayatollah Khamenei.

He campaigned on a promise to reach out to the west and improve relations with the U.S., and after his election he promised to "follow the path of moderation and justice, not extremism."

However, Rowhani said Iran would continue to pursue its nuclear program. U.S. president Barack Obama similarly expressed hope that the two countries would engage in a dialogue that might lead to progress on the seemingly intractable nuclear issue.

Rouhani announced that Iran would never "seek weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons"; released 11 prominent political prisoners; transferred oversight of the country's nuclear program from the conservative—and militarily aggressive—national security council to the more moderate foreign ministry; exchanged letters with President Barack Obama; and wished Jews a joyous Rosh Hoshanah.

All of these moves reportedly had the backing of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme religious leader, who wields ultimate power in the country.

Rouhani : "engaging with one's counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address shared concerns and achieve shared objectives.“

He offered to mediate between the Syrian government and the opposition and reiterated that the country intends to pursue nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

"Mastering the atomic fuel cycle and generating nuclear power is as much about diversifying our energy resources as it is about who Iranians are as a nation, our demand for dignity and respect and our consequent place in the world."

Rouhani speech notably lacked the anti-Israel bluster of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he was careful to refrain from making statements that would raise eyebrows at home or expectations by the West.

He repeated his earlier claim that Iran would never seek nuclear weapons but would continue to pursue uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes.

He also suggested that the U.S. and Iran could come to agreement on Iran's nuclear program within six months.

In another remarkable turn, Rouhani called the Holocaust "reprehensible." The statement further illustrated how Rouhani is steering a markedly different course from Ahmadinejad, who denied the Holocaust on several occasions.

Israeli was not buying it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykd-syzZ4ZY Ahmadinejad on

Holocaust https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCDcdnEjJHA Netanyahu’s speech

Talks about Iran's nulcear program between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany resumed in October and again November after being on hold for six months.

In a separate agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran said it would give the agency inspectors "managed access" to nuclear facilities so they can gather data about activities.

Iran, however, did not grant the IAEA access to the plant at Parchin, where inspectors think Iran tested triggers for nuclear devices.

On Nov. 24, Iran reached a six-month deal with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

Iran agreed to halt production of uranium beyond 5%, which means it could only produce uranium for peaceful purposes; not install new centrifuges; give UN inspectors daily access to enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordo.

In return, the crippling sanctions against Iran were eased, pumping between $6 billion and $7 billion back into Iran's economy.

Israel and Saudi Arabia both expressed outrage about the deal, fearing their power in the Middle East would be threatened or diminished by closer ties between the U.S. and Iran and by Iran's potential wealth from oil revenue and its nuclear know-how.

President Barack Obama has so far refused to officially work with Iran in combating Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. But Iran has sent its Iranian Revolutionary Guard to Iraq to help take out the militants also known as ISIS, and the U.S. began airstrikes in Iraq in August.

By the time the next round of talks opened in February 2014, Iran's economy was showing signs of rebounding, with inflation falling from 45% in 2013 to less than 30%—a result of the easing of sanctions.

While representatives at the six-party talks disclosed little about the progress, they said they had agreed on a detailed framework for moving forward—certainly reason for cautious optimism.

Iran has said it is committed to reaching a nuclear deal, but analysts say the chances for a breakthrough are slim ahead of the November 24 deadline that was set after the two sides failed to reach a deal by an earlier July target date.

The two sides reached an interim deal last year to reduce U.S. sanctions in exchange for Iran freezing its uranium enrichment program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fku6otZBO98