The U.S. And Iran
A look the relationship between the U.S. and Iran, from friendlier times to today's more contentious relationship.
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Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, a nationalist who wanted Iran to profit more from its oil reserves, is deposed in a CIA orchestrated coup, supported and funded by the British and the U.S. governments in order to preserve Western control of Iran's oil infrastructure.
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi visits the United States and meets with President Gerald R. Ford.
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President Jimmy Carter visits Iran and in a New Year's Eve toast says, "Iran, under the great leadership of the shah, is an island of stability" in the Middle East. The State Department says this was the last "substantive" high-level meeting between the two nations.
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The Shah is forced to leave the country after widespread demonstrations and strikes.
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Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile and takes power.
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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Iranian militants seize the U.S. Embassy and take 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
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The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions over the hostage crisis.
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A series of secret meetings take place between the U.S. and Iran, in which the United States sold weapons to Iran and gave the proceeds to Central American rebels. The scandal came to be known as the Iran-Contra affair.
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The Clinton administration lifts a ban on U.S. imports of Iranian luxury goods and says it would seek a legal settlement that could free Iranian assets frozen since 1979.
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President Bill Clinton lingered after his address to the United Nations to hear Iranian President Mohammad Khatami speak. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Kharrazi attend an eight-nation meeting on Afghanistan.
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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Officials from both sides communicate before and after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, whom Tehran also opposed.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell is seated at dinner next to his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, during a 20-nation meeting in Egypt to discuss Iraq's future.
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad writes President Bush an 18-page letter, lambasting the U.S. leader for his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks.
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the same room at the United Nations as Mottaki during a meeting on Iraq.
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad writes President Bush an 18-page letter, lambasting the U.S. leader for his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks.
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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Rice was in the same room at the United Nations as Mottaki during a meeting on Iraq.
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U.S. and Iranian envoys participate in a conference in Baghdad.
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki exchange a brief, polite greeting at a conference in Egypt.
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The U.S. and Iranian ambassadors in Baghdad hold four hours of talks on Iraq. American Ambassador Ryan Crocker says the two sides agreed broadly on policy toward Iraq but insists that Iran end its support for militants. Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi later says another meeting would take place in less than a month.
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U.S. academic Haleh Esfandiari and two other Iranian-Americans are charged with endangering national security and espionage, Iran's judiciary spokesman said. Esfandiari had been trapped in Iran since December, when three masked men with knives stole her luggage and passport as she headed to the airport to leave the country. In the weeks before her arrest, she was called in for questioning daily on her activities.
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A request by Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he visits to address the U.N.'s General Assembly was turned down by police who cited security concerns and blasted by U.S. diplomats as an attempt to turn ground zero into a "photo op."
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The Bush administration announced sweeping new sanctions against Iran — the harshest since the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979 — again charging that Tehran supports terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles and is engaging in a nuclear build up. The measures target the Revolutionary Guard Corps and a number of banks and are designed, among other things, to punish Tehran for its support of terrorist organizations in Iraq and the Middle East.
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Three U.S. Navy ships faced down five Iranian boats in a flare-up in the Persian Gulf. Video and audio recordings clearly show the Iranian boats confronting U.S. ships, and a voice speaking in heavily-accented English can be heard threatening that the American vessels were going to explode, military officials who had seen and heard the recordings said. President Bush denounced the incident as a "provocative act."
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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The Bush administration imposes financial sanctions on a Bahrain bank the United States alleges is controlled by Iran's Bank Melli, which has been accused of helping Iran spread weapons of mass destruction. The Treasury Department's action targets Future Bank B.S.C. Any bank accounts or other financial assets found in the U.S. belonging to the bank must be frozen. Americans also are prohibited from doing business with the bank.
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles during war games that officials said aimed to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack. The exercise was conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. "Iran's development of ballistic missiles is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and completely inconsistent with Iran's obligations to the world," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
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Iran test-fired more long-range missiles in a second round of exercises meant to show that the country can defend itself against any attack by the U.S. or Israel, Iranian state television reported. The weapons have "special capabilities" and included missiles launched from naval ships in the Persian Gulf, along with torpedoes and surface-to-surface missiles, the broadcast said.
TimeLine: Iran Nuclear Timeline
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The Bush administration moved to clamp down on Tehran by barring financial institutions from routing certain money transfers through the United States on behalf of Iranian banks, Iran's government and others in the country. The Bush administration has repeatedly warned U.S. banks that Iran is using an array of deceptive practices to hide its alleged involvement in nuclear proliferation and terrorist activities. The United States says Iran is resorting to such alleged practices to evade detection and skirt financial sanctions.
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President Barack Obama reached out to the Iranian people in a new video with Farsi subtitles, saying the U.S. is prepared to end years of strained relations if Tehran tones down its bellicose rhetoric. The video released Friday was timed to the festival of Nowruz, which means "new day" and marks the arrival of spring. It's a major holiday in Iran.
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Credits:
CBS/AP/BBC
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