with weapon sales in the Middle East
due to exceed 18 billion dollars in 2015
Gulf nations are arming themselves in
preparation for proxy wars and sectarian
conflicts within the region welcome to
watchmojo.com down 10 crucial facts you
should know about the middle-east
arms race number ten where did it start
on March 20th 2003 the United States as
well as troops from the United Kingdom
Australia and Poland invaded Iraq in
announcing the imminent invasion then
President George W Bush explained the
reasoning behind the action to disarm
Iraq to free its people and to defend
the world from grave danger
the invasion eventually became known as
the Iraq war as it lasted for nearly a
decade and cost the American government
an estimated 1.7 trillion dollars the
rationale for the war faced severe
criticism as it primarily focused on the
discovery and removal of weapons of mass
destruction supposedly in Iraq’s
possession despite the lack of concrete
intelligence number 9 how successful was
the war the Iraq war led to the collapse
of President Saddam Hussein’s government
his death and the establishment of
democratic elections however it also
spurred renewed efforts in the region by
the extremist group the Islamic State of
Iraq as well as a high number of Iraqi
casualties furthermore the war led to
widespread displacement as about two
million Iraqis left the country of which
84,000 sought refuge in the United
States today I can report that as
promised the rest of our troops in Iraq
will come home by the end of the year
despite withdrawing the remaining
American troops from Iraq in December
2011 the United States returned during
the summer of 2014 by providing aerial
support the United States hoped to stop
the advancing threat of Isis soldiers
despite losing Tikrit a kiss
four Iraqi forces Isis still controlled
large portions of the country as of
early May 2015
furthermore it is widely believed that
the Iraq war helped breed widespread
resentment of the u.s. in the region and
a strong jihadist movement number eight
how did Iran react Iraq is currently
home to the biggest Iranian operation in
the Middle East with Iranian
Revolutionary Guard members helping to
Train Shia militias in the country and
push back Isis forces in order to
support the majority Shia government
since the invasion of Iraq Iran has
continued to spread its regional
supremacy among various Gulf nations
such as Iraq but also Syria Palestine
and Lebanon Iran is also a major
supporter and longtime ally of the
al-assad dictatorship in Syria they’ve
supplied funds weapons and Iranian
Revolutionary Guards in order to curb
the popular uprising against the
al-assad regime these actions have
pitted Iran against Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf states that would like to
avert her an spread of power and believe
it doesn’t belong in their affairs
number seven what did this lead to the
Iran nuclear deal framework was reached
in Lausanne Switzerland in late March
and early April 2015 following
high-powered negotiations attended by
the foreign ministers of the United
States the United Kingdom Russia Germany
France China the European Union and Iran
these talks centered on Iran’s
controversial nuclear activities at the
end of the discussions an announcement
stated all participating nations had
reached an agreement regarding a
framework and that all final decisions
have to be made by June 30th 2015
the outlined deal touched on various
hot-button issues such as the reduction
of Iran’s nuclear facilities and
production the removal of economic
sanctions against Iran and the enhanced
and unprecedented investigations of
Iran’s nuclear facilities all while iran
denies intentions that it’s attempting
to build a nuclear weapon
number six who disagrees with the
framework while an agreement had been
reached in regards to the Iran nuclear
framework deal by early May 2015 there
remained widespread dissent within
signatory nations about the final
details and the timeline for example the
United States Senate continued reviewing
the framework and some conservative
Republicans demanded more stringent
requirements as of early May 2015 a bill
was being reviewed and would require the
President of the United States to submit
a final agreement before Congress which
would be given 52 days to review before
sanctions would be removed from Iran
furthermore there are mixed opinions in
Moscow as to whether or not Russia
should back the agreement in the past
Russian and American interests in the
Middle East contradicted each other but
these negotiations could change that
although Russia’s official line is that
Iran’s nuclear ambitions need to end
there are those who don’t believe in
aiding the reconciliation between Iran
and the United States number five
how did neighboring countries react the
Gulf Cooperation Council encompasses the
leaders of six Gulf nations including
Saudi Arabia Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates all of whom are demanding that
the United States provide them with
state-of-the-art weaponry and defense
agreements in exchange for their backing
of the Iran nuclear agreement
furthermore the Middle East is diving
into an arms race as sales of weapons
are due to exceed 18 billion dollars in
2015 with the West providing the
majority of the weapons in April 2015
Russia decided to deliver controversial
s-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran in
addition in early May 2015
France agreed to sell 24 Dussel aviation
fighter jets MBDA missiles and pilot
training to Qatar for seven billion
dollars Saudi Arabia has also agreed to
fund three billion dollars worth of
French weapons for the Lebanese military
in order to help combat trespassing
militants from neighboring Syria in lieu
of an American assurance in regards to
Iran neighboring nations are
collectively upgrading and purchasing
weapons from the West including the
United States France
the UK and Canada number four how did
neighboring countries react part two all
major Sunni nations in the Gulf have
announced plans to build nuclear
reactors with Egypt making the
declaration in early 2015 and the
country hiring Russia to build a reactor
in Alexandria these plans have been
triggered by the ever increasing
perceived threat of the nuclear
capabilities of neighboring
shia-dominated Iran in fact in 2004 king
abdullah ii of jordan coined the term
xie crescent to describe middle eastern
regions with strong Shia populations
stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to
the Persian Gulf
that being said not all Middle Eastern
countries will be able to build nuclear
plants as these can cost upwards of 5
billion dollars and several economies in
the region are crippled by poverty this
nuclear trend is in direct contrast to
global activities as many countries have
deliberately forsworn nuclear energy
especially after the Japanese nuclear
meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant
in 2011 number three is there a current
Gulf state crisis the Middle East has
broken into a loosely titled sectarian
war as the Yemeni crisis continues to
pit the Middle Eastern powers of Iran
and Saudi Arabia against each other the
Yemeni crisis began with the 2011
revolution which saw Yemen’s President
Ali Abdullah Saleh leave office and
Abdullah Mansour Hadi his former vice
president take up as Acting and then
elected president subsequently Houthi
militants took over the capital of Sanaa
and on February 6th 2015 declared
themselves in control of the government
and dissolved parliament the coup d’etat
sparked outrage and the majority of Gulf
states the United Nations and the United
States refused to recognize the
constitutional declaration on March 25th
2015 Saudi Arabia and a few other
nations began targeted airstrikes
against the Houthi rebels titled
operation decisive storm
number two who is involved in the Yemen
war the two Middle Eastern powers of
Iran and Saudi Arabia are currently
facing off in Yemen as both countries
backed different military groups in the
state
Iran historically backed the prominent
southern Yemen leader Ali sanam albiet
yet now is only funding the Houthi
rebels meanwhile Saudi Arabia and a
group of Sunni nations have been backing
the internationally recognized
government of Yemen and successfully
passed UN resolution 2216 which granted
it permission to militarily intervene in
the region this is now being tested as
the United Nations and the United States
have called for a humanitarian pause as
the impoverished citizens of Yemen
continue to be caught in the crossfire
number one how will this end
in early May 2015 the majority Sunni
Gulf nations and French president
Francois Hollande gathered for the Gulf
Cooperation Council summit to discuss
the growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen
and growing jihadist threats this
follows the signing of a joint
declaration by France and Saudi Arabia
which stressed the importance of a
strong and verifiable nuclear agreement
with Iran by June 30th 2015 as well as a
call for Houthi rebels to immediately
withdraw from Yemen despite Saudi Arabia
ending operation decisive storm and
beginning operation restoring hope in
April 2015
there has been continued shelling in
Yemen border towns as of early May 2015
as the Middle East plunges into proxy
wars and prepares to spend 18 billion
dollars in 2015 the world waits as the
long-term ramifications of such a
strategy are finally revealed did these
facts surprise you to vote for which
news story is covered next
head over to watchmojo.com / suggests
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
you
[Music]
due to exceed 18 billion dollars in 2015
Gulf nations are arming themselves in
preparation for proxy wars and sectarian
conflicts within the region welcome to
watchmojo.com down 10 crucial facts you
should know about the middle-east
arms race number ten where did it start
on March 20th 2003 the United States as
well as troops from the United Kingdom
Australia and Poland invaded Iraq in
announcing the imminent invasion then
President George W Bush explained the
reasoning behind the action to disarm
Iraq to free its people and to defend
the world from grave danger
the invasion eventually became known as
the Iraq war as it lasted for nearly a
decade and cost the American government
an estimated 1.7 trillion dollars the
rationale for the war faced severe
criticism as it primarily focused on the
discovery and removal of weapons of mass
destruction supposedly in Iraq’s
possession despite the lack of concrete
intelligence number 9 how successful was
the war the Iraq war led to the collapse
of President Saddam Hussein’s government
his death and the establishment of
democratic elections however it also
spurred renewed efforts in the region by
the extremist group the Islamic State of
Iraq as well as a high number of Iraqi
casualties furthermore the war led to
widespread displacement as about two
million Iraqis left the country of which
84,000 sought refuge in the United
States today I can report that as
promised the rest of our troops in Iraq
will come home by the end of the year
despite withdrawing the remaining
American troops from Iraq in December
2011 the United States returned during
the summer of 2014 by providing aerial
support the United States hoped to stop
the advancing threat of Isis soldiers
despite losing Tikrit a kiss
four Iraqi forces Isis still controlled
large portions of the country as of
early May 2015
furthermore it is widely believed that
the Iraq war helped breed widespread
resentment of the u.s. in the region and
a strong jihadist movement number eight
how did Iran react Iraq is currently
home to the biggest Iranian operation in
the Middle East with Iranian
Revolutionary Guard members helping to
Train Shia militias in the country and
push back Isis forces in order to
support the majority Shia government
since the invasion of Iraq Iran has
continued to spread its regional
supremacy among various Gulf nations
such as Iraq but also Syria Palestine
and Lebanon Iran is also a major
supporter and longtime ally of the
al-assad dictatorship in Syria they’ve
supplied funds weapons and Iranian
Revolutionary Guards in order to curb
the popular uprising against the
al-assad regime these actions have
pitted Iran against Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf states that would like to
avert her an spread of power and believe
it doesn’t belong in their affairs
number seven what did this lead to the
Iran nuclear deal framework was reached
in Lausanne Switzerland in late March
and early April 2015 following
high-powered negotiations attended by
the foreign ministers of the United
States the United Kingdom Russia Germany
France China the European Union and Iran
these talks centered on Iran’s
controversial nuclear activities at the
end of the discussions an announcement
stated all participating nations had
reached an agreement regarding a
framework and that all final decisions
have to be made by June 30th 2015
the outlined deal touched on various
hot-button issues such as the reduction
of Iran’s nuclear facilities and
production the removal of economic
sanctions against Iran and the enhanced
and unprecedented investigations of
Iran’s nuclear facilities all while iran
denies intentions that it’s attempting
to build a nuclear weapon
number six who disagrees with the
framework while an agreement had been
reached in regards to the Iran nuclear
framework deal by early May 2015 there
remained widespread dissent within
signatory nations about the final
details and the timeline for example the
United States Senate continued reviewing
the framework and some conservative
Republicans demanded more stringent
requirements as of early May 2015 a bill
was being reviewed and would require the
President of the United States to submit
a final agreement before Congress which
would be given 52 days to review before
sanctions would be removed from Iran
furthermore there are mixed opinions in
Moscow as to whether or not Russia
should back the agreement in the past
Russian and American interests in the
Middle East contradicted each other but
these negotiations could change that
although Russia’s official line is that
Iran’s nuclear ambitions need to end
there are those who don’t believe in
aiding the reconciliation between Iran
and the United States number five
how did neighboring countries react the
Gulf Cooperation Council encompasses the
leaders of six Gulf nations including
Saudi Arabia Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates all of whom are demanding that
the United States provide them with
state-of-the-art weaponry and defense
agreements in exchange for their backing
of the Iran nuclear agreement
furthermore the Middle East is diving
into an arms race as sales of weapons
are due to exceed 18 billion dollars in
2015 with the West providing the
majority of the weapons in April 2015
Russia decided to deliver controversial
s-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran in
addition in early May 2015
France agreed to sell 24 Dussel aviation
fighter jets MBDA missiles and pilot
training to Qatar for seven billion
dollars Saudi Arabia has also agreed to
fund three billion dollars worth of
French weapons for the Lebanese military
in order to help combat trespassing
militants from neighboring Syria in lieu
of an American assurance in regards to
Iran neighboring nations are
collectively upgrading and purchasing
weapons from the West including the
United States France
the UK and Canada number four how did
neighboring countries react part two all
major Sunni nations in the Gulf have
announced plans to build nuclear
reactors with Egypt making the
declaration in early 2015 and the
country hiring Russia to build a reactor
in Alexandria these plans have been
triggered by the ever increasing
perceived threat of the nuclear
capabilities of neighboring
shia-dominated Iran in fact in 2004 king
abdullah ii of jordan coined the term
xie crescent to describe middle eastern
regions with strong Shia populations
stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to
the Persian Gulf
that being said not all Middle Eastern
countries will be able to build nuclear
plants as these can cost upwards of 5
billion dollars and several economies in
the region are crippled by poverty this
nuclear trend is in direct contrast to
global activities as many countries have
deliberately forsworn nuclear energy
especially after the Japanese nuclear
meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant
in 2011 number three is there a current
Gulf state crisis the Middle East has
broken into a loosely titled sectarian
war as the Yemeni crisis continues to
pit the Middle Eastern powers of Iran
and Saudi Arabia against each other the
Yemeni crisis began with the 2011
revolution which saw Yemen’s President
Ali Abdullah Saleh leave office and
Abdullah Mansour Hadi his former vice
president take up as Acting and then
elected president subsequently Houthi
militants took over the capital of Sanaa
and on February 6th 2015 declared
themselves in control of the government
and dissolved parliament the coup d’etat
sparked outrage and the majority of Gulf
states the United Nations and the United
States refused to recognize the
constitutional declaration on March 25th
2015 Saudi Arabia and a few other
nations began targeted airstrikes
against the Houthi rebels titled
operation decisive storm
number two who is involved in the Yemen
war the two Middle Eastern powers of
Iran and Saudi Arabia are currently
facing off in Yemen as both countries
backed different military groups in the
state
Iran historically backed the prominent
southern Yemen leader Ali sanam albiet
yet now is only funding the Houthi
rebels meanwhile Saudi Arabia and a
group of Sunni nations have been backing
the internationally recognized
government of Yemen and successfully
passed UN resolution 2216 which granted
it permission to militarily intervene in
the region this is now being tested as
the United Nations and the United States
have called for a humanitarian pause as
the impoverished citizens of Yemen
continue to be caught in the crossfire
number one how will this end
in early May 2015 the majority Sunni
Gulf nations and French president
Francois Hollande gathered for the Gulf
Cooperation Council summit to discuss
the growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen
and growing jihadist threats this
follows the signing of a joint
declaration by France and Saudi Arabia
which stressed the importance of a
strong and verifiable nuclear agreement
with Iran by June 30th 2015 as well as a
call for Houthi rebels to immediately
withdraw from Yemen despite Saudi Arabia
ending operation decisive storm and
beginning operation restoring hope in
April 2015
there has been continued shelling in
Yemen border towns as of early May 2015
as the Middle East plunges into proxy
wars and prepares to spend 18 billion
dollars in 2015 the world waits as the
long-term ramifications of such a
strategy are finally revealed did these
facts surprise you to vote for which
news story is covered next
head over to watchmojo.com / suggests
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
you
[Music]
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