Iranium Enrichment

Background

Since the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, Iran has heavily pursued nuclear development in open defiance of international protests. Even after United Nations sanctions, Iran continued to enrich uranium and build centrifuges. In fact, on the 30 year anniversary of Iran’s revolution, the country launched a satellite into space and at the same time launched fears of possible ballistic missile development. With the a new Obama administration that is more willing to deal with Iran, the door opens for a potential turning point of US-Iranian relations. Recently, President Obama made a video address to Iran calling for cooperation. Although the message was received with mixed reviews, there is no doubt that a new relationship could soon emerge.

The following is a BBC news article with Obama's video message near the bottom of the page:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7956504.stm

Enriching Relationships?

Since 2006, the United States investigated Iranian banks suspected of funding Mr. Ahmadinejad’s nuclear plans and discovered quite a few. Two of the most prominent are Bank Sepah, which is heavily involved in nuclear weapons development, and Bank Saderat, which is known for supporting terrorism. Long term actions were taken on these banks to block them out of the US and world financial system. But, Iran continues to squeal past the problem by requesting the identity of its banks to be hidden in transactions. Businesses must be careful in dealing with clients that purposefully hide information to ensure that banks such as Sepah and Saderat are financially cut off. Stable relations with Iran would be much easier if nuclear weapons are not in the picture.