Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • The Islamic Republic of Iran: a country famous for making those independent movies you claim

  • to enjoy but... you actually never watched them.

  • This country is well known too as for being one of the main enemies for America, Europe

  • and, in general, the democratic world.

  • And of course, there are many reasons to believe so! Iran is an Islamic theocracy where the

  • Head of the State is not even a politician but a religious leader: the Ayatolah Jamenei.

  • Their legal system is based on the sharia law, tortures and executions are a widely

  • common.

  • And it this was not enough, the Government funds several terrorist groups all across

  • the planet.

  • Specially, this one called HIZBULLAH.

  • But... Hold on a second!

  • All of the above is ALSO TRUE in Saudi Arabia.

  • Nonetheless, Saudies are one of the main allies for the Americans and hold commercial relationships

  • with the rest of the world.

  • So Why Iran is so bad and Saudi Arabia is so good?

  • Many would believe the reason is as simple as oil.

  • But the truth is: Iran has the 4th biggest oil resources in the whole planet.

  • And their crude is quite similar to that one in Saudi Arabia.

  • However, just one year ago, they have a ban to sell it to most of the countries.

  • Yes, you heard it right: during years, both America and Europe didn't want to buy anything

  • that could come from this country.

  • So now you might wonder: Why Iran is such a threat to international security while other

  • countries as radical as them are way-better treated?

  • Today, we are gonna answer to that question.

  • But first, let's take a look at history.

  • THE FIRST ISLAMIC REVOLUTION

  • Until the 70s, Iran was one of the most glamourous dictatorships in the World.

  • The so-called SHAH from PERSIA, our good friend, MOHAMMED REZA PAHLEVI ruled over the country

  • with an iron fist.

  • At the same time, he and his wife, FARAH DIVA, where gossip magazines stars.

  • And yes, I said our 'good friend' because the SHAH of Persia was a great ally for the

  • United States and a good friend of the free world.

  • As we said, Iran holds the 4th largest oil reserves in the world.

  • Plus, they have over 80 million habitants and a highly educated population when compared

  • with their neighbouring countries.

  • This said, Iran is a crucial spot in order to control the Middle East region.

  • Nonetheless, while the SHAH was travelling all across the globe, enjoying a lifestyle

  • that would make Kanye West look like a humble dude, his country was getting ready for a

  • revolution.

  • And now you might wonder Was it a communist revolution?

  • An Islamic one?

  • Well... initially, the Iranian opposition was very heterogeneous.

  • Unlike Saudi Arabia, Iran, or, as it was known before, the PERSIAN empire, has a long history

  • and sophisticated culture.

  • So among this opposition groups you could find pro Western liberals, Marxists, social

  • democrats and, of course, radical islamists.

  • The latters had just one difference with the others.

  • They had a leader: the AYATOLA HOMEINI.

  • Despite living on the exile in Paris, he had a great charisma and reputation among the

  • Iranians.

  • From his pulpit in Paris, Homeini addressed to all of those revolutionaries, encouraging

  • them to take over the power under the promise of a new and democratic Iran, where Marxists,

  • liberals and islamists could live together.

  • And this is how the islamist revolution was born.

  • In november, 1979, the revolutionary forces take over the Government palace and the US

  • embassy in Teheran.

  • You might remember Ben Affleck's movie, ARGO, where you can see the story of the American

  • workers at the Embassy being taken as hostages by the Iranians.

  • Right afterwards, the AYATOLAH HOMEINI would come back to his country, supported by all

  • his believers.

  • And... this is what he said during his first speech:

  • 'There is no need for an islamic democracy.

  • It is enough with Islam' --Ayatollah Khomeini

  • As you can imagine, Khomeini would become the new leader of the country.

  • And what was his first goal?

  • Of course, to eliminate the other revolutionary groups that helped him take the power.

  • All those western liberals, Marxists, social democrats and even moderate islamists where

  • excluded from the new Islamic Republic of Iran.

  • And of course, the relationships with the United States where absolutely broken.

  • Well... actually, only kind of broken.

  • Actually, American and Iran went from being 'friends' to 'it's complicated'.

  • In one hand, Khomeiny hated the US badly.

  • But on the other hand, Ronald Reagan, the American president back in the day, was selling

  • weapons to the Iranians so they could fight against their neighbouring country, IRAQ.

  • Do you remember Saddam Hussein?

  • Well... he was a common enemy, both for Khomeini and Uncle Sam.

  • During the 90s and the 2000s, relationships between these two countries will keep the

  • 'it;s complicated' status.

  • In 1997, Iranians choose a new president, Mohammed JATAMI, who tried to restore friendship

  • with US.

  • But, at the same time, the supreme leader, who was not Khomeini anymore but this other

  • one you see on the screen, the Ayatolah Khamenei, had an evergreen obsession with Israel.

  • So he was funding a terrorist organization called HIZBULLAH.

  • Don't forget that in Iran, the ultimate decision maker is not the president but this

  • religious leader who holds the position of head of the state.

  • This said, the American president, back in the time, Bill Clinton, said he would never

  • befriend a country that wants Israel out of the map.

  • Meanwhile, Iran keeps being a divided country.

  • Despite the majority of their population stands for radical islam, there is still a big secular

  • movement.

  • Nonetheless, something happened in 2005 that would change the fate of this country.

  • MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD

  • Despite what it looks, between the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, Iran

  • had flirted with moderation and even secularism.

  • They even passed a divorce law that included separation of goods between husband and wife.

  • Not even that, by the year 2006, 50% of the students where female.

  • Of course, Iran was still violation human rights systematically.

  • Women where forced to get their head covered and religious minorities where forbidden.

  • But don't forget we are talking about an Islamic Republic.

  • And in the neighbouring Saudi Arabia, women are not even allowed

  • to drive!!!

  • This is how a radical counter reform process started in Iran.

  • Tortures and detentions multiplied after this year.

  • Police chased those women who wouldn't wear the HIJAB properly and the whole world was

  • shocked with quotes like this one.

  • However, the ultimate concern for Washington was the iranian attempt to build their own

  • nuclear bomb.

  • You see... when a Government that publicly declares their intention to erase Israel from

  • the map and whose president denies the Jewish Holocaust... it's really scary to imagine

  • what would they do if they had a nuke.

  • Add to this the fact that Iran hates Saudi Arabia badly.

  • But we will talk about this in another video.

  • By the way, subscribe now if you don't wanna miss it.

  • So this is the momento where America and Iran change their relationship status from 'it's complicated'

  • to 'enemies'.

  • And the Islamic Republic became a real danger to international stability.

  • SECURITY COUNCIL IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON IRAN FOR FAILURE TO HALT URANIUM ENRICHMENT,

  • This sanctions were no little thing.

  • Do you remember that Iran has the 4th largest crude reserves in the World?

  • Do you remember that the economy of this country depends largely on oil exports?

  • So... imagine what happens where the wealthiest countries decide to stop buying.

  • 'Since January, Iranian government figures show the prices of bread, milk and meat have

  • risen around 20 percent, while the price of chicken has jumped about 80 percent.'

  • But hold on a second!

  • The best is yet to come.

  • Of course, the economic crisis destroyed Ahmadineyad reputation.

  • And his successor, the current president HASSAN ROUHANI, came to power under the promise of

  • liberal reforms and better relationships with the West.

  • But watch out because there is more!

  • THE ARAB SPRING

  • Yes, the official religion of Iran is ISLAM.

  • But not all the islamists are the same.

  • Iran is a Shia Islamic country.

  • Inside the muslim world, Shia islam is a minority.

  • This is one of the reasons why the Iranian ayatollahs hold so bad relationships with

  • the Sunni clergies in Saudi Arabia.

  • And this is the reason why Iran is willing to do whatever they can to fight DAESH or

  • Islamic State.

  • Yes!

  • Daesh is a sunni muslim terrorist organization.

  • Add to this the fact that once America retired its troops from Iraq, the ayatolas funded

  • the new government in BAGDAD.

  • This is what explains the following.

  • Iranian army is fighting the Islamic State, both in Siria and Iraq.

  • And this is both a help and a threat to the United States.

  • No one wants to remove one radical group to have a new one, as radical as the previous

  • one, on the same place.

  • And yes, this explains why Obama's interest in closing ties with Iran.

  • In fact, it was a smart movement to hit two targets in one shot.

  • In one hand, Obama was sending a signal to Saudi Arabia, who was not willing to help

  • him fight DAESH.

  • On the other hand, he was making sure that whoever defeats the bad guys will have a good

  • relationship with the US.

  • Moreover, he would finally seal an agreement with Iran in order to stop their nuclear program.

  • And this is how they closed the famously controversial Iranian nuclear deal.

  • Nonetheless, Obama's sucesor, Donald Trump, wants to stop this diplomatic process.

  • Even though the courts had vetoed his infamous 'Islamic ban', the fact that he included

  • Iran on the list of countries that cannot get into American soil is a clear signal.

  • He is slamming the door to Iran.

  • And, more importantly, he is showing some love to Saudi Arabia.

  • But this is something we are covering more deeply in another video.

  • If you want to understand why Donald Trump is such a good friend of the saudies, click

  • on this video.

  • And now here is the last question: Can America restore their relationship with Iran?

  • Is it worth it to utilize diplomacy in order to avoid this country to become more dangerous

  • and more radical?

  • You can leave your answer on the comments below.

  • And don't forget that we publish brand new videos every Monday and Thursday so don't

  • forget to subscribe so you won't miss any of them.

  • If you liked this video, gives a thumbs up and I see you next time.

The Islamic Republic of Iran: a country famous for making those independent movies you claim

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it