CNCMUN IV Background Guide Council of Leaders COL

Presidents: Gabriel Hernández and Isabella Ospina Gabriela Conde and Tomás Ortiz

Executive editors

Gabriel Hernández Isabella Ospina

Sub-editor Sub-editor Table of contents

I. Letter from the chair

II. Introduction to the committee

III. First agenda: and Conflict

A. Introduction

B. History

C. Current Situation

i. Right of return

ii. Security and Terrorism

D. Different Perspectives

IV Second agenda: and USA crisis

A. Introduction B. History

i. Precedents of the Iran-U.S.A. relation

ii. Incidents

iii. Nuclear weapons development

C. Current Situation

D. Different Perspectives

V. Information of Mandatory Revision

VI. QARMA’S (Questions a Resolution Must Answer)

VII. Bibliography I. Letter from the chair

Estimated delegates,

We are Gabriel Hernández and Isabella Ospina, and as presidents of the committee of

Council of Leaders, we’d like to extend to you a warm welcome to the 4th edition of

CNCMUN. This time, the topics to be discussed are related to the Middle East conflict with other countries such as Israel and the United States - Iran crisis. We are appreciative to receive delegates that are open to an active participation and take this as learning and enriching experience.

We are looking forward to achieve this committee's goals and make this a joyful experience for everyone. We are expecting to see you soon. II. Introduction to the committee

Council of leaders is an experimental committee in the Model of United Nations that consists in setting out a scene in which world leaders with greater significance discuss and debate about current controversial and important issues. The delegates will have to represent presidents, prime ministers and other important mandataries, in order to give a prompt solution to problems following democracy parameters as well as human rights.

III. First agenda: Middle East and Israel Conflict

A. Introduction

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the ongoing struggle

between Israelis and Palestinians that began in the mid-20th

century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the

conflict as part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, with

only partial success, as at the end of 2019.

The origins of their enmity can be traced back to Jewish

immigration and sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine

between Jews and Arabs. It has been referred to as the world's "Most intractable conflict", with the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank1 and the Gaza

Strip2 reaching 53 years.

Despite a long-term peace process and the general reconciliation of Israel with Egypt and

Jordan, Israelis and Palestinians have failed to reach a final peace agreement. The key issues are: mutual recognition, borders, security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements,

Palestinian freedom of movement, and Palestinian right of return.

The violence of the dispute, in a region full of sites of historic, cultural and religious interest worldwide, has been the object of numerous international conferences dealing with historic rights, security issues and human rights, and has been a factor hampering tourism in and general access to areas that are hotly contested. Many attempts have been made to broker a two-state solution, involving the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.

In 2007, the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a number of polls, preferred the two-state solution over any other solution as a means of resolving the conflict (Rivers, 2019).

A majority of Jews see the Palestinians' demand for an independent state as just, and think Israel can agree to the establishment of such a state. The majority of Palestinians and Israelis in the

West Bank and Gaza Strip have also expressed a preference for a two-state solution.

Yet, within Israeli and Palestinian society, the antagonism generates a wide variety of views and opinions. This highlights the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and

1 Area of Palestine, claimed from 1949 to 1988 as part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan but occupied from 1967 by Israel. Also known as Judea. 2 Is a self-governing Palestinian territory that borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Palestinians, but also within each society. A hallmark of their enmity has been the level of violence witnessed for virtually its entire duration.

There are prominent international actors involved in the conflict. The two parties engaged in direct negotiation are the Israeli government, currently led by , and the

Palestine Liberation Organization, currently headed by Mahmoud Abbas. Since 2006, the

Palestinian side has been fractured due to the animosity between the two major factions: Fatah, the traditionally dominant party, and it's later electoral challenger, Hamas. After Hamas's electoral victory in 2006, the Quartet conditioned future foreign assistance to the Palestinian

National Authority on the future government's commitment to nonviolence, recognition of the

State of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. Hamas rejected these demands, which resulted in the Quartet's suspension of its foreign assistance program, and the imposition of economic sanctions due to the Israelis. The division of governance between the parties had effectively resulted in the collapse of bipartisan governance of the PA. However, in 2014, a

Palestinian Unity Government, composed of both Fatah and Hamas, was formed. B. History

The confrontations between Israel and Palestine commenced with a religious controversy, with the jewish migration to Palestine after World War II, and the rivalry between jews and arabs. Following the war and the Holocaust, in 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted

Resolution 181, which called for the creation of two separate Jewish and Arab states.

The other eastern Arab nations refused to recognize Israel as a legitimate state. Therefore, a day after Israel declared itself an independent state, in May 1948, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon,

Syria, and attempted to invade it. Israel was able to repel the invasion, but took land that was originally reserved for Arab Palestinians in the process, creating a large Palestinian refugee crisis. Later, in 1967, there was an attack from the United Arab Republic3, it was called the

Six-Day War because it only took Israel 6 days to win and take over even more territory.

Afterwards, in 1973, Egypt, Syria and Jordan invaded them again, but this time, after Israel claimed victory, they signed a peace treaty with Egypt.

14 years later, particular episodes of violence led to a Palestinian uprising, also known as the first Palestinian intifada4, in territories occupied by Israel on December 9th. The first intifada started when an Israeli army truck ran into a group of Palestinians near a refugee camp in the

3 Political Union between Syria and Egypt between 1958 and 1961. 4 Intifada is an Arabic word derived from a verb meaning "to shake off," and is the term used to describe the two major uprisings against Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Gaza strip, leaving four deaths and 7 wounded. Two days later, a jewish salesman was found stabbed to death in Gaza. Mutual blaming between Israelis and Palestinians rose tensions and caused the riots that persisted for a long time. Eventually, the violence escalated on different territories, but especially in the city of Gaza. Later in 1993, it ended (Neff, 1997).

Then, in September 2000, the second intifada, also known as al-Aqsa Intifada, started. After

Ariel Sharon5's visit to Jerusalem, next to a thousand armed personnel, the Palestinians saw “an attempt to take control of the Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest site in Islam” (Neff, 1997b) .

The founding of Israel was followed Later in decades of fighting and terrorism, from the 1948

Arab-Israeli War and the 1967 Six-Day War to the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the First and

Second Intifadas. As a result of these, thousands of people have died and millions more have suffered, with an entire population becoming refugees. Attempts were made to end the disputes and bring peace to both sides.

5 An israeli general and politician In 1993, Israeli and Palestinian leaders met to negotiate a potential peace agreement called the

Oslo Accords. Although this did not bring peace, it did kick off years of diplomatic efforts to end the hostility, which is referred to as the peace process.

The international community has taken many actions to assist Israel and Palestine find peace.

In the UN Security Council, the most recent resolution adopted on the situation was in 2009,

Resolution 1860, which “called for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.” More recently, in September 2012, the President of the Security Council issued a statement describing the latest efforts to restart peace talks.

With the larger UN family, the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) is responsible for delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees. UNRWA provides education, health, relief and social services to over 5 million Palestinian refugees living in countries across the Middle

East, including Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and areas of Palestine, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In addition to the UN, numerous NGOs address the Israeli-Palestinian animosity.

For example, Breaking the Silence is one NGO that comprises “veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada, and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied

Territories.”

C. Current Situation

Today, the peace process revolves around negotiations between Israeli leaders, led later in

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian leaders, led later in President Mahmoud

Abbas. Within Israel, Netanyahu faces problematic pressures from his own political party, opposing political parties, and Israeli citizens. Within Palestine, President Abbas is the recognized leader, but another group, Hamas, controls a part of Palestine called the Gaza Strip, where they rule effectively. By June, Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, communicated the intention of annexing the West Bank6; however he claimed the plan is not “annexation” since this territory contains Jewish settlements. Statistically, this could result in 4.5% of Palestinians living in the

West Bank annexed land (BBC News, 2020a). This political movement will delay the recognition from other countries of Israel as a state. Due to COVID-19, the conflict and the peace negotiations were not the main focus of these parties. (Carnegie Endowment, 2020)

Although there are two sides to this issue, within each side there are different actors and internal pressures. The intense conflict and various internal pressures of both sides means that the peace process requires help from the international community in order to move forward. The

United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia have been particularly involved in the peace process, and the four of them are referred to as the "Quartet." The Arab

League is also involved in the peace process.

There are many issues involved in the peace process. After so many wars, and with Israel occupying Palestine, there is much dispute and controversy over where the borders for both states should be drawn. Israelis have settled in the areas that are considered occupied Palestine.

6 Territory near the Mediterranean coast, bordered by Jordan and the Dead Sea to the east and by Israel to the south, west and north. Right of Return

Following the 1948 war, thousands of Palestinians fled their homes as refugees, as a result, today there are millions of Palestinians living in refugee camps. Refugees claim that they have a right of return that includes "a claim to citizenship, financial settlement and, in some cases, return to former homesandproperty in what is today Israel." However, the Israeli leadership opposes this right of return in order to keep Israel a Jewish state.

Security and Terrorism

There has been a constant fighting of both Israeli and Palestinian sides. The Israeli military occupies parts of Palestine in order to secure its borders and territory taken over the course of the

Arab-Israeli wars. Groups within Palestine have fired rockets into Israel, and one of Palestine's leading groups, Hamas, is considered a terrorist organization of the United States.

At the end of January, Palestine broke all the relationships with Israel because of the USA plan for the peace in Middle East, that shows that an important part of it makes Israel having more palestinian territory, including Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (BBC News, 2020b). D. Different perspectives:

USA

Since 2017, the administration has significantly modified U.S. policies towards the Palestine government and citizens. It eliminated practically all U.S. financial assistance to Palestinians; ended U.S. contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency

(UNRWA), which provided education and health assistance to refugees; increased its support for

Israel on negotiation issues, moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and even supported legislations that ended U.S. assistance to Palestinian security forces (Council on Foreign

Relations, 2019). Now with the Biden administration, the U.S. will continue to maintain the bilateral relationship with the Jerasulan’s embassy but will not support any decision of right-wing extremism.

Egypt

Egypt’s 1978 peace treaty with Israel, the first signed At any Arab state, is supported At massive amounts of American aid to both Egypt and Israel.

The treaty also forbids Egypt from a military presence in the bordering Sinai Peninsula7, where militias and criminal groups have developed.

7Is a populated desert region between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The only part from Egypt located in . Syria

The Syrian government is still hostile to Israel due to its alignment with Iran, Israel’s greatest adversary in the region today, which is why it is known as the ”Axis of

Resistance” to Israeli and Western interests in the

Middle East. Syria also wants the Golan Heights, a militarily useful land Israel seized during their 1967 war, back.

Lebanon

Lebanon is home to , an anti-Israel Shia Islamist group funded in Iran. Hezbollah is a major force in Lebanese politics, so Lebanon is unlikely to play any role in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the near term.

Jordan

Despite the peace treaty it has with Israel, it shelters the largest concentration of Palestinians refugees and is also one of Israel’s neighbors where Palestinians have full citizenship rights.

Nevertheless, many of these refugees are harbored at camps where they don’t receive proper treatment. Iran

The Iranian government believes Israel is fundamentally illegitimate and supports the most firm anti-Israeli Arab factions. Israel sees Iran as a direct and existential threat, as it has provided significant military and financial backing to Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syria.

Turkey

After an Israeli-Turkish incident, in which Israel killed several activists on board of a turkish ship arriving in Gaza with humanitarian aid in 2010, their diplomatic relations broke off for 6 years. Since then, the relations were resumed but remained fragile. Meanwhile, the Turkish

Islamist Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has positioned himself as a champion of the

Palestinian cause for ideological, domestic, and geopolitical reasons.

Saudi Arabia

The kingdom donates hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority and is the driving force behind an Arab League peace plan that works as an alternative to traditional

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Though hasn’t recognized Israel yet, the shared hostility towards Iran has led to a working relationship between their governments.

Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict even if this goal is "increasingly difficult to achieve", and also stated that Palestinians and Israelis must be able to live side-by-side in peace and security (Deutsche Welle, n.d.). Germany is the biggest bilateral international donor to the Palestinian territories and has put its efforts on supporting multilaterally.

France

France has advocated the creation of a Palestinian State since 1974, when it voted in favour of recognizing the PLO at the United Nations as an observer, reaffirming the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. In 1982, François Mitterrand was the first French President to express the goal of creating a Palestinian State. In 2010, France raised the status of the General Delegation of Palestine in France, which became the Mission of Palestine and is led by an ambassador. In

November 2012, it voted in favour of the status of non-member observer State for Palestine at the United Nations, and in September 2015 for the placing of the Palestinian flag at the UN.

France considers the Israeli settlements as an illegal seizure of land. Also, it has published recommendation warnings against the financial, legal and reputational risks of doing business in the settlements.

UK

The United Kingdom maintains a consulate in Jerusalem which "provides public services and promotes British interests in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories". The Foreign and

Commonwealth Office states the "Consular district covers Jerusalem (West and East), the West

Bank and Gaza. As well as work on the Middle East Peace Process and other political issues, the

Consulate also promotes trade between the UK and the Palestinian territories and manages a programme of aid and development work. The latter is undertaken primarily At the DFID office in Jerusalem." In September 2011, Britain said it would recognise Palestine as a state, but only with non-member observer status, rather than full membership, at the United Nations. In October

2014, the UK House of Commons passed a Motion which called on the Government to recognise

Palestine as an independent state. Also in October 2014, the devolved government of Scotland called for recognition of Palestine as an independent state and for the UK to open an Embassy.

Russia

Russia, since 2012, has intervened on the Israel-Palestine dispute to advocate for the prevention of the escalation of violence by getting its representatives to speak with both parts.

During the November 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip, the Russian Foreign

Minister Sergei Lavrov called for an end to the violence after a meeting held with Gulf Arab foreign ministers in . Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich denominated the attacks on southern Israel as “entirely unacceptable” and urged both sides to end the military confrontation. Russia, in 2012, voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19 on upgrading Palestine to non-member observer state status in the United Nations. President Putin insisted on the non-escalation of violence during the following years, even in 2014 during the

Israel-Gaza problem. He reiterated his willingness to provide mediatory efforts and peace initiatives, stating that Russia’s position is to facilitate the peace process at the bilateral level and within international organizations ( Of Israel, n.d.). IV. Second agenda: Iran and USA

A. Introduction:

Iran, a Middle East country holding a significant

part of the world’s petroleum, and the United States

of America, have had several issues. These issues

have to do with the Iranian’s current nuclear program,

the arms race and all of the rising tensions that came

through the twentieth century after their diplomatic

relationship was cut.

Some aspects of this antagonism are: the american’s political influence in Iran, as well as the economic sanctions imposed on the Middle East country as a consequence of being denominated as a terrorist promoting nation. Also, their numerous confrontations, some of which happen in their naval dispute in the , in the Strait of Hormuz

(through which most Gulf oil exports passes), because of the presence of sailing ships being taken down between each other, have been features of their rivalry (BBC News,

2019). As a result of these aspects, both countries began an arms’ race, principally based on

nuclear energy (uranium enrichment8, for instance). Through several years of hostility

caused by the uncertainty of Iran's nuclear program intentions and the nuclear

development in Iran, along with many sanctions imposed by the international community

to , a group of countries (including , France, Russia, the United Kingdom,

and the United States, plus Germany) managed to negotiate with Iran and set boundaries

for its nuclear program.

Although a nuclear deal was set by 2015, a deal in which Iran agreed to turn off its

machines with potential to build weapons in exchange for the retirement of the sanctions,

U.S. president Donald Trump withdrew his country from the treaty in 2018. Since then,

other signatory countries have insisted on maintaining the boundaries, yet, Iran has

prepared to enrich uranium to industrial levels in case the agreement with the rest of the

countries doesn’t work (BBC News, 2018). Nevertheless, that is not the only concern, the

development of missiles in both countries has also preoccupied the international

community. Consequently, under the american’s leadership, Iran is recognized as a

potential threat to international stability, justifying several economic penalties that have

been imposed on them by now.

8 Enriched Uranium is obtained by adding hexafluoride uranium to centrifuges. Highly enriched uranium has a concentration of around 20% and it is used on investigation reactors, meanwhile the uranium used in nuclear weapons is enriched minimum to a 90% (,) Nations are still defining what their position is regarding the nuclear deal, the United

States’ withdrawal and Iran’s overpassing the boundaries set on the deal.

B. History

i. Precedents of the relation Iran-U.S.A.

The political tension between these countries goes back to the , in

1979, when the Iranian people took down the US-backed Shah9 called Mohammed Reza

Pahlevi and kept the personnel from the american embassy as hostages for 444 days.

Before going in depth on this, it may be convenient to trace the factors that lead to this

situation.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1901, an australian man named William

Knox D’Arcy negotiated with Iran’s Shah in order to obtain a royal concession for

exclusive drilling rights (to extract oil) for the next 60 years. The Shah agreed to receive

16 percent of potential profits. Yet, D’arcy found several adversities that almost made

him go bankrupt. In 1905, D’Arcy was convinced to sell the majority of his concession to

an enterprise called The Anglo-Iranian Oil. Then, after 3 years, they found a significant

oil source in Iran, which is why in 1911, a pipeline was built to connect southwestern

Iran to the Persian Gulf. To that date the British navy intended to make the conversion of

9 Is the name given to the emperors, kings, princes and lords of Iran. their battleships from coal to oil, which explains why they were looking for petroleum reservoirs. 25 years later, oil concessions had broadened to Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi

Arabia (Zadell, 2013).

After several years of British exploitation, Iranian people started claiming the nationalization of the concessions, so, in March 1951, Mohammed Mossadegh became prime minister (the first elected democratically), acquiring control of the oil industry.

Meanwhile, the communist Tudeh Party were suspicious of Mossadegh's true intentions, so the U.S. administration started believing in the possibility of the Tudeh arriving in power. This way, the British reached out to the Americans in order to take down the prime minister. A series of declassified documents describing how the CIA and MI6 contributed to this, were released in 2013. This conspiracy is known as The Coup (The

Guardian, 2013). Mosadegh was effectively brought down and sent to trial. ii. Incidents

Meanwhile, Mohammed Rezha Pahlavi took Mossadeq place, with the support from

Britain and the US. Through his rule, the first secret Iranian police force (the Savak) guided by the CIA and the was created, targeting the Tudeh for destruction and

(Curtis & Hooglund, 2008, p. 276). Also, once Pahlavi was set as the monarch, the nuclear program was introduced and initiated in Iran. In 1957 the nation was included on a program called Atoms for Peace in which the U.S., under Eisenhower’s presidency, provided them technological and educational resources so they could use nuclear atoms to produce energy instead of arms (Rowberry, 2013). Then, through the 70’s, the Iranian parliament not only ratified the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but announced their intention to construct about 23 nuclear power plants and to develop a full nuclear fuel cycle in order to achieve a certain amount of energy over a certain amount of time

(Masterson, 2019).

Hostage Crisis

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, years later, on January 16 of 1979, what is called the Iranian or Islamic Revolution started. After several protests of Iranian citizens, the last Shah, Reza Pahlavi fled the country. A provisional government was set meanwhile, Mehdi Bazargan became prime minister. Right away, on February 14th of the same year, the American Embassy in Tehran (capital of Iran) was attacked, but overcame it with a few wounded. Later, in October, the provisional Shah arrived to american soil because of a medical treatment that could only be obtained there and he guaranteed that the attack in February hadn’t caused further harm. On November 4, as a response to that,

66 american citizens on the embassy were taken hostage, under the condition of the U.S. extraditing the Shah to Iran for trial. Bazargan resigned 2 days later. The United States insisted on the liberation of the hostages, but they were held for more than a year. The

U.S. took several economic, political and diplomatic measures such as refusing to buy iranian oil, freezing massive amounts of dollars of Iranian assets in the United States and an embargo that harmed the iranian economy. After several failed attempts to liberate the hostages, including a failed military intervention, in mid-august, Iran established a new government, restoring diplomatic conversations, and in September, Iraq invaded Iran.

This last event was detrimental for the state due to all the economic sanctions the US had made against them and made them unable to afford the war. Hostages were finally released on January 20 of 1981, minutes after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, after exhaustive conversations in which it had been said that Iran would not receive any help with the confrontation with Iraq as long as the hostages were released. This became an international crisis that permanently marked the diplomatic relation between these nations. Since then, the political tension has kept growing.

Iraq- Iran war

From 1980 to 1988, these countries found themselves caught in a war, after Iraq, presided by Saddam Hussein, invaded Iran, breaking the agreement they had in which some territory was granted to iranian people as long as they ceased to provide military assistance to the Kurdish in Iraq. The war went along bombings and several civilians deaths. In 1984, the United States’ Department of State includes Iran on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, imposing sanctions on Tehran (Masterson, 2019). The confrontation intensified when, in 1987, Iran increased its attack against commercial shipping in and around the Gulf, and the USA and other nations sent naval escorts to support Iraq. As the conflict evolved, western support gave the advantage to one of the parts. In 1988, the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire, and finally, after numerous negotiations, an armistice and eventually a peace settlement were achieved. Yet, the rivality persists. By 1992, the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act was released, in which “the transfer of controlled items that might contribute to Iran’s proliferation of advanced conventional weapons” is prohibited (Masterson, 2019).

Iran-contra affair

During the 1980’s and Reagan’s government, both countries were involved in a political scandal, due to illegal transactions of weapons by the National Security

Council’s (NCS) head , Robert C. McFarlane, of the US with Iran. This trade went against the policy of not negotiating with terrorists or helping Iran on its war with Iraq.

Nevertheless, the money obtained through these deals was used to finance the “Contras”

-militia groups with the intention to bring down the Marxist-oriented Sandinista regime. The Reagan administration admitted to have done this and the leaders of the NSC behind

this were prosecuted.

Iran air flight 665

On July 3, 1988, towards the end of the war between Iran and Iraq, a U.S. Navy ship

that was crossing fire with some Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf10. Throughout the

confrontation, an Iranian Air Flight, 665, took off from an international airport nearby,

which is used by military and civilian aircrafts. Allegedly, as the flight didn’t identify

itself, it was mistaken by a fighter jet, so it was shot down with 2 missiles, killing all 290

passengers and crew on board (Fisher, 2013). This was interpreted by the government of

Iran, according to the former CIA intelligence analyst Kenneth M. Pollack, as a hostile

and intentional action.

iii. Nuclear weapons development

The United States feared that Iran was capable to improve their nuclear energy

sources, evolving into weapons, which is why in August 5 of 1996, their Congress passed

the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act or the Iran Sanctions Act, that “penalizes foreign and U.S.

investment exceeding $20 million in Iran’s energy sector in one year.”

10 The U.S. Navy keeps ships there, and still does, to protect oil trade routes. Nevertheless, in 2002 the National Council of Resistance on Iran (a terrorist organization), affirmed that Iran had built nuclear facilities near and Arak. The same year, U.S. president Bush, in his State of the Union speech included Iran on the

Axis of Evil. However, the eastern country kept working on their uranium-enrichment program.

The next year, in September, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors agreed on a resolution to force Iran to suspend all enrichment and related activities. This resolution demanded the country to declare all the materials connected to their uranium-enrichment program and to allow the IAEA inspectors to carry on environment examinations at any location, all of the conditions should be met by October

31st. Iran agreed. In spite of this, in June, 2004, the IAEA condemned the country for not cooperating with the inspectors. According to the report made by the organization in that year, “Iran took a number of steps intended to conceal the origin, source and extent of

Iran’s enrichment programme”. As a response, they refused to suspend the enrichment-related activities as they had agreed. But finally, after talks with the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the European Union, they willingly decided that they would continue and extend the suspension of the activities as a further confidence building measure, as stated on the

same report,(2004).

Throughout 2005, multiple ruptures on agreements happened: between Russia and

Iran11, as well as the negotiations with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom

because of the initiation of production of uranium at a facility. By the end, the IAEA

adopted a resolution finding Iran in noncompliance with its safeguards agreement. The

resolution declared the nuclear activities and the unknown nature (whether peaceful or

not) of them, was to be discussed on the UN Security Council. In 2006, China, France,

Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (also known as the P5+1)12

offered incentives for Iran to halt its enrichment program for an indefinite period of time.

But these were not received as expected, so the UN Security Council imposed sanctions

against the country.

In 2008, the U.S. publicly released an unclassified summary of a new National

Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report on Iran’s nuclear program, which stated that their

nuclear program was technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium

for a between 2010 and 2015.

11 An agreement in which Russia would provide fuel for an iranian reactor in construction and Iran would return the spent nuclear fuel to Russia, with the purpose to prevent Iran from extracting plutonium for nuclear weapons from the spent nuclear fuel. 12 permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. After and Hasan Rouhani became presidents of both nations, they showed disposal to talk. By September 2013, Obama called Rouhani to speak about a possible resolution. Iran and the P5+1 started to have plenty of gatherings to discuss an action plan. On November 24, Iranian Minister Javad Zarif and Catherine Ashton, leader of the P5+1 negotiating team, signed an agreement called the , which was finally implemented on January 20th.

By July 14th of 2015, Iran and the P5+1 formally adopted the nuclear deal, also called

Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA), in which sanctions for the eastern country would be retired as soon as they kept their potential nuclear weapon making machinery turned off. Even though there was always tension and preoccupation, they had maintained the deal until Donald Trump arrived at the White House.

C. Current Situation

Donald Trump, president of the United States since 2017, announced on May 8th of

2018 the retrieval of his nation from the nuclear deal with Iran, affirming he would still negotiate with the remaining signatories. On May 21, the U.S. stated 12 demands, which included Iran to drop their nuclear programme and to pull out from the Syrian war, if they didn’t want to face economic sanctions. However, Tehran refused. As a response, the USA restored the sanctions prevailing before the application of the deal, some of which are shown below:

Then, in 2019, Trump designated a powerful arm of the Iranian military, the elite

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a foreign terrorist organisation, which implied wide-ranging economic and travel sanctions on the IRGC. He also decided to take away the exemptions (of the sanctions) to the countries that were part of the deal and were trading with Iran. As a consequence, by May 8, Iran announced the intention to

prepare the increase of enriched uranium and heavy water production, considering to stop

certain commitments made under the nuclear deal.

As the pressure rose, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, offered to mediate

dialogue between Washington and Tehran. He even went to Tehran for this purpose, but

the Ayatollah13 refused to talk with Trump because he didn’t consider him

as “a person worthy of exchanging messages with”, even though the Ayatollah also

vowed that his country had no intention to make, hold or use nuclear weapons (Al

Jazeera, 2019).

Through the year, the U.S. deployed troops, drones, ships and other resources in the

Middle East under the argument of protecting American forces and interests. Iran started

surpassing the limits set by the nuclear deal more every time, although according to the

government’s pledges, they would reverse if European signatories tried to get around

U.S. sanctions. Following this, there were many threats between each other and both

were willing to respond in case of an attack from the other. Several controversies showed

up when Iran retained a UK British Oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz and

the U.S. holds an Iran’s tanker.

13 High rank name given to major Shi'a clerics. Beyond that, since the United States withdrew from the deal, an arm’s race has kept

growing. As Iran had started overcoming the conditions stated by the deal, Saudi Arabia

(Enemy of Iran) threatened to start building nuclear weapons of their own if they found

out of any bomb made in Iran, forcing both countries to arm themselves. France and

South Korea showed interest in selling nuclear to Saudi Arabia. Apparently,

the Trump administration adopted a more permissive approach to the nuclear transfers

policy toward Saudi Arabia and “signaled its willingness to approve such transfers

without congressional approval.” (Gheorghe, 2019).

Thereafter, on January 3rd of 2020, an airstrike in Iraq killed the Iranian General

Qasem Soleimani, a very important and powerful figure in Iran, close to Ayatollah

Khamenei. Soleimani was the head of Iran’s Quds force14, a force which had been

previously denominated as terrorist by the U.S. due to their responsibility for a lot of

American deaths. The Pentagon15 declared that the attack was to prevent future Iranian

plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the

region. Also, Abu Mahdi al.Muhandis, an Iraqi militia leader, was killed too. The attack

was carried out days after protesters attacked the U.S. embassy in , allegedly

approved by Soleimani. Reacting to this, Iran’s president, , stated that his

14 An elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards 15The headquarters of the US Department of Defense own nations along with other free nations of the region would take revenge from

America’s actions, as well as Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Subsequently, Iran announced on their national media that the country would no longer follow the limits established on the 2015 deal, even though they would keep up the cooperation with the IAEA. Meanwhile, Iraq passed a resolution requesting the withdrawal of American troops, which are there as a part of the coalition against the

Islamic State group. (BBC News, 2020c). The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell invited Iran's Foreign Minister, , to Brussels in order to discuss the nuclear deal and how to lessen the crisis over the Soleimani .

Afterwards, on January the 8th, the IRGC launched more than a dozen missiles

(Operation Martyr Soleimani) against two Iraqi military bases that were housing U.S. soldiers, this was taken as a direct Iran - U.S. confrontation and these two nations almost entered an open conflict. According to reports, 110 soldiers were reported with severe trauma, recognizing the strike as repayment for the General’s death. (The Washington

Post, 2021). During this episode, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by the IRGC. Later that month, 3 projectiles impacted near to the U.S. embassy in

Baghdad, where no wounded soldiers were reported. (The Times of Israel, 2020). All these events, along with the death of Soleimani, aggravated the tensions between Iran and the United States.

By March due to the pandemic, the United States announced the withdrawal of troops from 3 of their 8 bases, now the focus was on the novel virus and military-political issues between these countries took second place. Even though all of this happened, the relationship between these two nations influenced the way in which how COVID-19 was managed. The U.S. applied some sanctions towards Iran which resulted in a big decay in its economy; however, some medical aid was offered by the United States, but Iran rejected it. (BBC News, 2020d) Furthermore, in August Iran received another economic hit, when the U.S. intercepted approximately 1.1 millions of petroleum barrels that were supposed to arrive directly in Venezuela. (BBC News, 2020e).

Finalizing the year, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi, was shot and killed in an ambush by 4 armed men whose nationality is not confirmed yet, this operation is assumed to be orchestrated by Israel and the U.S.A. (Fassihi, F., 2020)

Thereupon, the tenseness between Iran and the U.S. elevated again. The bombardings continued and by mid- December the Baghdad base in Iraq was again attacked by 8 rockets, considering this attack was executed a month before Biden’s possession to the presidency, this will interfere and retard his plans to revive the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.

(BBC News, 2021).

D. Different perspectives

Iraq

In spite of several tensions developed between Iraq and the United States in the past

(after the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq’s war, etc), according to the Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet written by the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs of the U.S., their mission in Iraq is directed to enhance their strategic partnership with the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people

(2019). However, after the attack to Soleimani, Iraq began reconsidering the relation and the American presence on its territory, according to its Prime Minister, Adel Abdul

Mahdi, who defined the attack as “an outrageous breach to Iraqi sovereignty” and said that the Parliament would discuss the United States presence in Iraq in a future meeting

(Hassan, Arango & Rubin, 2020). Regardless of it, their diplomatic relation persists.

Saudi Arabia

For several decades, the United States has had strong relations with Saudi Arabia, while Iran has been very distant from them, originally for religious reasons, which is why

Saudi Arabia is a very important trading partner (being the second largest trading partner of the U.S. in the Middle East). This could be seen in various situations, as, for instance, the Saudi’s president warnings if they found out that Iran was making a bomb in Iran, also, allegations have been made of S. Arabia financing Iraq's nuclear program.

Furthermore, after Soleimani’s death, US Secretary of State spoke on the phone with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the airstrikes at Baghdad airport, and, according to State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, Saudi Arabia showed support and recognized the continuing aggressive threats Islamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps Qous Force (ARAB NEWS, 2020).

Israel

Since 1948, when the United States was the first nation to recognize Israel, both countries have had a strong relationship. Besides providing “financial support, the U.S. participates in a high level of exchanges with Israel, to include joint military exercises, military research, and weapons development.”, according to the Bilateral Relations Fact

Sheet (2019). This explains why Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the US had the "right " to defend itself and praised President Trump for acting quickly and decisively (BBC News, 2020f). Russia

The U.S. and Russia have had differences in the past, yet, they both participated in the deal with Iran. Also, Russia, besides China, managed to buy Iranian oil in spite of the

U.S. sanctions. After the attack orchestrated by the U.S., that killed the Iranian General,

Russia proclaimed its support to Iran, by denouncing the attack as a “murder” and a

"reckless step" by the U.S.

United Kingdom

Iran and the U.K. have a long list of confrontations. Some of the issues they've had have been regarding ships in the Persian Gulf, and the burning of the British embassy in

Tehran in 2011 (Landale, 2020). Yet, the U.K. has made several efforts, along with the rest of the signatories of the nuclear deal of 2015, to preserve the deal. In spite of the quality of the relation between the U.S. and Iran with the U.K., England's Prime Minister,

Boris Johnson, released a statement affirming Soleimani death wouldn’t be lamented, affirming any retaliation would lead to more inconvenient violence and that the U.K. would remain close to both parts (BBC News, 2020g). Also, regarding the troops in Iraq, as there are 400 British troops in Iraq as well, to combat the Islamic State group, they urge the Iraqi government to guarantee the preservation of the coalition. Even if these countries seem to have a bias, all of them are committed to the

de-escalation of the crisis and the violence.

V. Information of Mandatory Revision

A. First agenda ● Israel-Palestine conflict basics (Look deeply into Mahmoud Abbas, what are Fatah and Hamas, Zionism, and what relation do they have with the topic): https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080002/israel-palestine-conflict-basics ● Brújula para el Mundo Contemporáneo Book - Diana Uribe

B. Second agenda ● Timeline of key events after U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/iran-standoff-timeline-key-events-1906 22063937627.html ● Iran nuclear deal: Why do the limits on uranium enrichment matter? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48776695

VI. QARMAS: Questions A Resolution Must Answer

A. First agenda

● What solutions will the leaders, as the characters they represent, propose?

● How can the violence escalation be avoided from each part of the conflict?

● If any decision is taken regarding the territorial distribution, how are the victims

going to be indemnified? B. Second agenda

● What measures can be adopted by the different nations to reduce the nuclear

technology proliferation?

● Will the different States maintain economic trade with Iran?

● Which mechanisms will be applied to prevent the escalation of the crisis?

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