Final Blog Post: Iran Nuclear Talks

            Over the course of the semester, my group covered the history and the progress of Iranian nuclear projects. We began by going back to the 1980s, when Iran first announced it had been secretly developing nuclear weapons under Ayatollah Khomeini. As tensions increased between the United States, Iran, and Iraq, the US took actions to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state. These actions were based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran had signed in 1968, promising to never acquire, or conspire to acquire or build, nuclear weaponry. Iran and Russia, however, set up a deal in the 1990s, allowing Iran access to Russian technology and oil by-products to build light-water reactors. The UN joined the US in imposing sanctions and restrictions on Iranian access to nuclear technology in 2006, when the Security Council proposed economic and political incentives for Iran to shut down its nuclear program. These sanctions increased over time, and the US and her allies have worked to deter other countries around the world from providing Iran with knowledge or products that would aid in its nuclear weapon proliferation. Since then, there have been numerous diplomatic talks between Iran and UN members to solve these concerns. As recently as January of this year, Iran has agreed to decrease its supply of enriched uranium while maintaining its nuclear program—albeit with a promise of transparency and honesty with the program’s developments.

            When we researched our topic to write the entries, we all pitched in to add information and valuable sources to a common Google doc. This way, we could all participate and have our opinions heard. While other groups had trouble coordinating and finding a common time/space to meet, using an online resource to communicate made it simple and much less time consuming. Our sources included news outlets, government websites, and other politically minded blogs. It was helpful to work in a group setting when researching, because there was always someone who caught bits of the story that the other members had missed. Having multiple points of view on the same topic made the process interesting and informative.

            From this blog assignment, I learned how important it is to share your own thoughts and opinions, but also to listen to those of others. Without proper communication, this blog probably would have been one-sided and straightforward, whereas the issue of Iran’s nuclear proliferation is extremely controversial and complicated. I think everyone in the group learned to accept each other’s opinions and recognize the validity of a point of view, even if it disagrees with our own. Concerning the topic, I learned quite a bit of new information about Iran’s history of nuclear programs, and the tensions they caused between world powers like the US and Russia for decades. From doing all this research into the history of Iranian nuclear proliferation, I learned that, even today, Iran’s actions would have significant repercussions around the world whether they were to develop full-fledged nuclear bombs or dismantle the project completely. All in all, the Iranian nuclear talks are an example of what we have been discussing in class all semester: the fact that every event has multiple perspectives and motives behind it, and the interconnectedness of global politics.