12 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 11, 2015

international

Last month, the U.S. and five other countries agreed on the outline of a deal with Iran that could prove historic. Iran has agreed to limit

its nuclear power program, which the West fears is being used to develop nuclear arms. In exchange, the U.S. and its allies will lift sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

The negotiations lasted two years. They were very difficult and often came close to breaking down. All along, Iran has insisted that it is interested only in peace-ful uses of nuclear power, mainly to produce electricity.

Even with an initial deal in hand, negotia-tors have a lot of tough issues to hammer out by June 30. That is the deadline for a final accord. There is also deep suspicion on both sides that could kill the agreement.

Here are five questions about what President Barack Obama calls “our best bet by far to make sure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon.” Lu

oji

e/C

hin

a D

aiL

y n

ews/

Po

Liti

Ca

L C

ar

too

ns

(ira

n D

eaL

Ca

rto

on

); M

ike

thei

Ler

/reu

ter

s (o

ba

Ma

); a

tta

ken

ar

e/a

FP/G

etty

iMa

Ges

(ro

uh

an

i)

Iran DealCan an agreement with iran stop it from building nuclear weapons?

The

Obama

ROuhani

MAy 11, 2015 / JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC 13

1 Why is the world worried about Iran

getting an atom bomb?In addition to the U.S., many

nations in the Middle East and Europe see Iran as extremely dan-gerous. Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, its leaders have put down the U.S. as “the Great Satan” and called for its downfall.

Iran’s government is controlled by hardline Shia Muslim religious leaders. It has been a major cause of problems in the Middle East. Iran sponsors such groups as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The U.S. considers both groups to be terrorist organizations.

Israel is one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East. It sees Iran as a threat to its very existence. Last November, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for Israel to be “annihilated.”

U.S. officials also fear the spread of nuclear weapons through the region, says Abbas Milani of Stan-ford University in California. They think that “if Iran gets the bomb, then neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and possibly Egypt will too,” Milani tells JS. “Then you will have an arms race.” Saudi Arabia is a U.S. ally and longtime foe of Iran. It says it may get nuclear arms if Iran has them.

2 What does the agreement say?

Experts say that both sides in the negotiations made major com-promises to achieve the outline agreement.

What Iran agreed to: Iran will

3 Will a final deal keep Iran from building

a bomb?This is the key question and a

subject of intense debate. People who favor the agreement say that a deal would make it harder for Iran to build a bomb.

Nuclear reactors (devices that control nuclear energy) use fuel that is made from uranium. The process of making that fuel is called enrichment. Only a small level of enrichment is needed to make fuel for a nuclear reactor that produces electricity. A much higher level of enrichment is needed to make a nuclear bomb.

Iran will still be allowed to enrich some uranium. But it also promises to drastically reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium and cut its total number of enrichment devices by two thirds. Also, one of Iran’s main enrichment plants will be changed into a research facility.

U.S. officials say that with these limits and IAEA inspections, it

limit its nuclear efforts so that it has enough power and equip-ment to generate electricity but not enough to make a weapon. Iran has also agreed to allow inspec-tors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect all of its nuclear sites.

What the West agreed to: The crippling sanctions passed by the U.S., the United Nations, and the European Union will be lifted. These economic punishments have cut Iran off from international trade. They also kept it from sell-ing its oil, which cost the country billions each year in lost income. Ordinary Iranians suffer most from the restrictions. They elected President Hassan Rouhani in 2013 on the promise that he would try to get sanctions lifted. But exactly when the sanctions will be lifted is one of the trickiest points that still need to be worked out.Va

hiD

rez

a a

Laei

/ir

an

ian

DeF

ense

Min

istr

y/a

P P

ho

to (r

oC

ket

); P

oo

L n

ew/r

eute

rs

(DiP

LoM

at

Mee

tin

G)

Luo

jie/

Ch

ina

Da

iLy

new

s/P

oLi

tiC

aL

Ca

rto

on

s (ir

an

Dea

L C

ar

too

n);

Mik

e th

eiLe

r/r

eute

rs

(ob

aM

a);

att

a k

ena

re/

aFP

/Get

ty iM

aG

es (r

ou

ha

ni)

continued on p. 14

Above: Iran already has long-range missiles. Many people fear what it could do with nuclear weapons. Left: U.S. and Iranian diplomats meet in March.

Abadan

Tabriz

QESHMISLAND

S

trait of Horm

uz

Persian Gul f

Gulf of Oman

Caspian Sea

Black Sea

MediterraneanSea

RedSea

ArabianSea

LakeUrmia

LakeVan

ELBURZ MOUNTAINS

PLATEAUOF

IRAN

DASHT-E KAVIR(salt desert)

DASHT-E LUT

(salt desert)

ZAGROS MOUNTAINS Euphrates

Tigris

Aras River

QATAR

KUWAIT

IRAQSYRIA

AZERBAIJAN

GEORGIARUSSIA

AZER.

ARMENIA

TURKEY

JORDAN

EGYPT

ISRAEL

LEBANON

TURKMENISTAN

SAUDIARABIA

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

OMAN

YEMEN

OMAN

UNITED ARABEMIRATES

40°E 50°E 60°E

30°N

20°N

40°N

TROPIC OF CANCER

BAHRAIN

CYPRUS

IRAN

Tehran

Gorgan

Qom

Natanz

KuwaitCity

Amman

Beirut

Damascus

Jerusalem

Doha

Riyadh

Abu Dhabi

Muscat

Manama

Baghdad

Isfahan

Karaj

Arak

Mashhad

Zahedan

Bandar-eAbbas

Shiraz

Bushehr

U.S.

EQUATORArea of map

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

National capitalCityInternationalborderNuclear facility0 100 MI

200 KM0

14 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 11, 2015

would take Iran a full year to build a single bomb. Officials who favor the deal say that if Iran tried to cheat, this time frame would give the U.S. and its allies time to seek a solution. They could even take military action.

Are these safeguards enough? Critics of the agreement insist that Iran still can’t be trusted. “A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel,” warns Prime Minister Benjamin Netan yahu of Israel, one of those critics. Other U.S. allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia, also oppose the deal. At home, members of Congress from both parties have spoken out against it.

But Obama has defended the program of inspections as the strongest in history. “If Iran cheats, the world will know it,” he says.

4 Is a final agreement likely?

A final accord could still fall through. Getting all parties to agree on all the details by June 30 will be very difficult.

One of the toughest issues is deciding when the sanctions will be lifted. Ayatollah Khamenei has said that they must end on the day a final agreement is signed. Western negotiators like U.S. Sec-retary of State John Kerry say that sanctions will be eased gradually, as Iran meets certain goals. U.S. officials also say that sanctions could “snap back” if Iran cheats.

Even if a deal is reached by June 30, both President Rouhani and President Obama will have to overcome opposition at home. Rouhani will need to get the approval of Ayatollah Khamenei, P

aG

e 14

: Min

Ga

M a

Lain

/Ga

MM

a-r

aP

ho

Via

Get

ty iM

aG

es (h

ost

aG

e); P

aG

e 15

: jiM

MC

Ma

ho

n/M

aP

Ma

n™

(Ma

P)

who has repeatedly voiced suspicion of U.S. intentions.

Congress also wants to have its say. As JS went to press, law makers were debating a bill that would require a vote on the agreement. Experts say there is a small chance that Congress could kill the deal.

5 What could a deal mean for U.S.-Iran ties?

The U.S. and Iran have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 revolution put the country under strict Islamic rule. That November, Iranian mili-tants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the country’s capital. They held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days (see “Iran and the U.S.”).

Despite that strained history, many ordinary Iranians would like their country to have a better relationship with the U.S. On his first day in office in 2009, Presi-dent Obama told Iran that the U.S. would “extend a hand if you’re willing to unclench your fist.”

Milani believes that Obama’s offer was part of the reason the negotiations came about. He also says that the Iranian people have a lot at stake in reaching a deal. “Iranians want to join the interna-tional community,” he says. “They are overwhelmingly in favor of normalized relations with the U.S.”

An agreement would bring “a major change in U.S.-Iran relations,” Milani says. It could also allow cooperation on issues like the battle against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

“It’s hard to exaggerate what a big deal this is,” says Gary Sick, an Iran expert at Columbia University in New York City. “We’re talking about a real transformation of U.S. policy in the region.”

—Bryan Brown

Iran and the U.S.

On November 4, 1979, a mob seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. It took 66 Americans hostage, and held 52 of them captive for more than a year. Americans watched in distress as the embassy’s employees were paraded

before cameras like criminals (above). For months, U.S. President Jimmy Carter was unable to get the hostages released. They were finally set free in January 1981.

yet the U.S. and Iran had long been allies. Under Shah (king) Pahlavi, Iran had become a modern, Westernized nation. But the Shah’s secret police brutally cracked down on people who disagreed with him. That included conservative Shia Muslim leaders who resisted social reforms. Many Iranians grew to resent the U.S., which had helped overthrow Iran’s prime minister in favor of the Shah in 1953. In January 1979, a movement that became the Islamic Revolution forced the Shah to flee Iran. A strict Islamic government took charge. Fierce anti-American feeling led to the seizure of the embassy, an event that has poisoned U.S.-Iran relations ever since.

MAy 11, 2015 / JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC 15

Abadan

Tabriz

QESHMISLAND

Stra

it of Hormuz

Persian Gul f

Gulf of Oman

Caspian Sea

Black Sea

MediterraneanSea

RedSea

ArabianSea

LakeUrmia

LakeVan

ELBURZ MOUNTAINS

PLATEAUOF

IRAN

DASHT-E KAVIR(salt desert)

DASHT-E LUT

(salt desert)

ZAGROS MOUNTAINS Euphrates

Tigris

Aras River

QATAR

KUWAIT

IRAQSYRIA

AZERBAIJAN

GEORGIARUSSIA

AZER.

ARMENIA

TURKEY

JORDAN

EGYPT

ISRAEL

LEBANON

TURKMENISTAN

SAUDIARABIA

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

OMAN

YEMEN

OMAN

UNITED ARABEMIRATES

40°E 50°E 60°E

30°N

20°N

40°N

TROPIC OF CANCER

BAHRAIN

CYPRUS

IRAN

Tehran

Gorgan

Qom

Natanz

KuwaitCity

Amman

Beirut

Damascus

Jerusalem

Doha

Riyadh

Abu Dhabi

Muscat

Manama

Baghdad

Isfahan

Karaj

Arak

Mashhad

Zahedan

Bandar-eAbbas

Shiraz

Bushehr

U.S.

EQUATORArea of map

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

National capitalCityInternationalborderNuclear facility0 100 MI

200 KM0

mapsearCh

Questions 1. What is the capital of Iran? 2. Iran’s capital sits at the foot of what mountain

range? 3. What river forms Iran’s border with

Azerbaijan? 4. What countries border Iran on the east? 5. Near which cities on the map are the five

nuclear facilities located?

6. The nuclear plant at Arak lies near which longitude line?

7. Which city is located at 27ºN, 56ºE? 8. A ship traveling from the Arabian Sea to

the country of Kuwait would pass through which waterways?

9. What island nation lies in the Persian Gulf? 10. What is the source for this map?