Iran's long rivalry with the United States
Here are some key dates:
1953 - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency helps orchestrate the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, restoring to power Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
1967 - The United States provides Iran with a nuclear reactor and enriched uranium fuel. Iran signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, allowing it a civilian nuclear programme but not a military one, in 1968.
1972 - U.S. President Richard Nixon visits Tehran to strengthen security relations between the countries - part of a policy to make Iran and Saudi Arabia "twin pillars" of the U.S. strategy to contain Soviet influence in the Middle East.
1979 - Iran's Islamic Revolution forces the shah to flee. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns from exile and becomes Supreme Leader. Students seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and hold staff hostage.
1980 - The United States cuts diplomatic ties with Iran, seizes Iranian assets and bans most trade with it. A hostage rescue mission ordered by President Jimmy Carter fails. The hostages are released minutes after Carter steps down.
1983 - Lebanon's Hezbollah group, founded and backed by Iran, is accused by the U.S. of bomb attacks on its Beirut embassy and marine barracks that kill about 300 people, mostly Americans. Hezbollah has said other groups were responsible.
1984 - The United States restores ties with Iraq, giving it diplomatic backing in a war against Iran.
1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan reveals secret arms deal with Tehran in violation of an arms embargo.
1988 - The U.S. Navy destroys two Iranian oil platforms and sinks a frigate in retaliation for damage to a U.S. vessel that hit an Iranian mine. U.S. warship Vincennes mistakenly shoots down an Iranian passenger plane over the Gulf, killing all 290 aboard.
2002 - President George W. Bush declares Iran, Iraq and North Korea an "axis of evil". U.S. officials accuse Tehran of operating a secret nuclear weapons program.
2003 - Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias gain wide sway in parts of the country and stage attacks on U.S. forces.
2011 - The FBI says it has uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Iran denies any involvement.
2012 - U.S. law gives U.S. President Barack Obama, who has offered to extend a hand if Tehran "unclenches its fist", power to sanction foreign banks if they fail to significantly reduce imports of Iranian oil, leading to an economic downturn in Iran.
2013 - Hassan Rouhani is elected Iran's president on a platform of improving its relations with the world and boosting the economy.
2015 - Iran and six major powers, including the United States, agree to a nuclear deal curbing Iran's nuclear work in return for limited sanctions relief.
2016 - Iran releases 10 U.S. sailors who ended up in Iranian territorial waters. The United States and Iran swap prisoners.
2018 - U.S. President Donald Trump withdraws from the nuclear deal and reimposes economic sanctions on Iran.
2019 - Oil tankers are attacked in the Gulf in May and June. The United States blames Iran, a charge Tehran denies.
2020 - The United States kills Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force head Qassem Soleimani with a strike in Iraq. Iran strikes back with missile attacks on Iraqi bases housing American troops, injuring about 100.
2022 - Major protests grip Iran. The United States imposes sanctions on entities it says are involved in the crackdown.
2023 - Iran releases five imprisoned Iranian-American dual citizens in return for a sanctions waiver. Washington releases five detained Iranians days later.
On October 7, Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas attacks U.S.-ally Israel, killing 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages, prompting an Israeli military campaign in Gaza that Palestinian health authorities say has killed more than 50,000 people.
Iran-backed Hezbollah starts firing on Israel in what it calls solidarity with Gaza. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group attacks Red Sea shipping and fires drones at Israel in support of Hamas.
2024 - Israeli attacks on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel in Syria and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah prompt two direct Iranian attacks on Israel. The United States helps shoot down Iranian missiles and drones.
2025 - Trump threatens to bomb Iran if it does not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear programme. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says any U.S. attack on his country would prompt "a strong reciprocal blow".
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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Ukraine will be forced to surrender eastern territory & forget about joining Nato under Trump and Putin's peace terms
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) STRICKEN Ukraine will be forced to surrender large swathes of its eastern territory and forget about ever joining Nato under peace terms haggled by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The war-torn country's desire to join the European Union is also in doubt after the two superpower presidents held controversial talks in Alaska on Friday. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska to end the conflict in Ukraine 8 Ukraine will be forced to surrender large swathes of its eastern territory under peace terms haggled by the leaders Credit: AFP 8 Zelensky has called for an end to the conflict on social media Credit: Getty Ukraine would be outlawed from joining the Western defence alliance, but have its redrawn borders underwritten by its US and European allies, in the terms suggested by the White House. 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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Putin has laid cunning trap that makes Zelensky's White House visit a minefield… Russian leader knows the peace he wants
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AT first sight, Friday's summit meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin came to no clear conclusion. But the Russian leader has cunningly laid a trap, hoping that Volodymyr Zelensky is the one to say 'No' to President Trump's peace plan. 6 Russian leader Vladimir Putin has cunningly laid a trap Credit: Reuters 6 He is hoping that Zelensky is the one to say 'No' to President Trump's peace plan Credit: AP 6 Putin got what he wanted when Trump treated him as an equal partner Credit: AFP Since Alaska, Trump has shifted from demanding an immediate ceasefire to calling for immediate and full peace agreement. This is what Putin wants — to bounce Zelensky into a take-it-or-leave-it deal. But what would peace be like? To be sure, Putin knows what he means by peace — Ukraine surrenders to his key demands. Kyiv gives up a swathe of territory to Russia. 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As the hero of Ukraine's resistance, he is Putin's biggest bugbear. 6 6 That makes Zelensky's visit to Washington tomorrow such a minefield for him. Zelensky needs to avoid the kind of Oval Office ambush he faced in February when he had a shouting match with US leaders. To be fair, Trump looks likely to offer Ukraine carrots to make any concessions to Russia easier to swallow. Already, Washington has got the Ukrainians to agree to an economic partnership worth up to $500billion to develop the country's mineral and rare earth resources. Trump sold that deal by saying it would be worthwhile for Ukraine to share 50 per cent of the profits with America because Putin wouldn't reinvade if US companies' assets were in the line of fire. Well, that didn't stop him in 2022. Putin and Zelensky both know Trump is a man in a hurry Mark Almond But that selling point goes to the heart of what Ukraine sees as an acceptable peace settlement. 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Got what he wanted They are at war but it is the President who wants a deal most urgently. Trump sees himself as a peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Prize. To be fair he has knocked heads together between smaller, weaker states like Armenia and Azerbaijan. But Putin's Russia sees itself as a global superpower. Putin got what he wanted on Friday when Trump treated him as an equal partner. The devil will be in the details of any peace deal. Putin is a master of detail. Trump is a master of ceremonies, lavishing attention on the media image of signing deals. Zelensky has to tread very carefully. A weekend is a very short time to prepare a peace to end three brutal years of war. Meeting 'a big win for Vlad' By Michael Hamilton VLADIMIR Putin will feel emboldened after the summit in the US, a former top military intelligence officer is warning. Colonel Philip Ingram said he feared Kremlin's tyrant had come out on top after the Alaska talks. 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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Melania sends Putin deeply personal letter that Trump hand-delivered in Alaska
First Lady Melania Trump wrote a personal letter to Vladimir Putin in which she criticized the forced kidnapping children, officials said. Although Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska, she made sure her thoughts were heard and had the note hand-delivered through her husband, two officials told Reuters. The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine. The existence of the letter was not previously reported. Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive subject for Ukraine. Kyiv has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide. Previously, Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. 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Trump previously explained that he speaks to the Russian leader often, before sharing how Melania has helped in pointing out Putin's continued bombing of Ukraine. 'My conversations with him are always very pleasant. I say, isn't that very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night, I go home, I tell the first lady... I spoke with Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation. She [says]: "Oh, really, another city was just hit,"' Trump said. Ahead of Friday's trip to Anchorage, Trump tempered expectations about what he might accomplish in Alaska, giving himself a '25 percent' failure rate. 'The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal,' Trump said. 'But there is a 25 percent chance this meeting will not be a successful meeting,' Trump added. Trump previously explained that he speaks to the Russian leader often, before sharing how Melania has helped in pointing out Putin's continued bombing of Ukraine Trump and Putin met for nearly three hours at a US military base in Anchorage without reaching a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine. The Putin and Trump Administrations on Friday ended with the US and Russian leaders admitting there was still work to be done. After the meeting concluded, the two leaders held a brief joint press conference. In an extremely uncharacteristic move, Trump allowed Putin to speak first - at what had been billed as a bilateral press conference - and then didn't answer a single question before shaking hands with Putin again and sauntering offstage. Their whole appearance before the press lasted just 12 minutes. Speaking aboard Air Force One as it flew toward Anchorage, the president declared his mission was nothing less than to 'stop the killing' and demanded that a truce between Russia and Ukraine be reached 'rapidly.' 'I don't know if it's going to be today,' Trump admitted, 'but I'm not going to be happy if it's not today. Everyone said it can't be today - but I want the killing to stop.' Trump said he made 'some headway' during his 2.5-hour-long meeting. 'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump said. 'We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' What was clear was that there was no immediate ceasefire or peace deal to end the Ukraine war. Trump, who held a summit with Putin on Friday, said he agrees the best way to end the war was to go straight to a peace settlement - not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have been demanding. Trump signaled that he and Putin had discussed potential land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine, a proposal that has left Europe reeling as analysts brand it 'deeply disturbing' and a 'clear 1-0 for Putin.' The US also reportedly proposed an agreement that would see Ukraine not join Nato - but instead be offered Nato-esque protections similar to Article 5, diplomatic sources have claimed. Article 5 on Nato's founding treaty agrees collective defense - meaning allies see an attack on one as an attack on all of them. Trump reportedly floated the plan with Zelensky and European leaders during a call after his meeting with Putin.
