Iran and the United States’s relationship is even more strained than ever before. Currently, the conflict seems to be calming down for now, despite damage being done and tensions that can be compared to the Cold War. 

Tensions have been building for a long time, from as far back as the Shah of Iran, to the Iranian Revolution and the Iran Hostage Crisis marking the transition into Iran’s current government, splitting ties with the United States, to the Iran-Contra deal during the 1980s to the United States pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal on May 8, 2018, the Gulf of Oman Incident, and many more events.

The spark that created the current tensions was US airstrikes in Iraq that killed an Iranian general, Qasam Soleimani. This led to Iran launching airstrikes towards two United States military bases located in Northern Iraq, but no fatalities or injuries were reported. 

A tweet from President Trump stated, “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.”

From this conflict, citizens are beginning to worry about the possibility of the situation escalating and unfolding into a complete war, from both countries involved. 

“We should handle the situation with care,” sophomore Reilly Naff said. “We should also try to de-escalate the situation before it ends in nuclear crisis.”

Another issue that arose the night of the was a Ukranian International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed shortly after taking off from Iran’s capital, Tehran. Iran’s Government at first stated it was a technical problem with the aircraft, but suspicion arose especially as the flight departed during the airstrikes. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, stated that there was evidence that the plane was shot down by Iranian Missiles, which originated from reports released by the Pentagon. Iran’s Military later released a statement saying that it was shot down by Iran because it was mistaken for a United States Military aircraft. 

Iran later recovered the plane’s black boxes, but it would not be analyzed by American authorities, including the manufacturer of the plane, Boeing. Protests erupted following the crash, with the Los Angeles Times reporting that security forces of Iran’s government fired live ammunition and threw tear gas to disperse protesters.

Within the past few days, Iran has decided to accept officials from France and the United States, despite their previous statement regarding the country not wanting to involve American officials, to decode and analyze the black boxes, according to the New York Times.

Since, the situation has not seen a major escalation of events in which have not surfaced regarding the situation. The history of tensions between the United States and Iran will certainly remain and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. However, for now the situation is at a standstill and with the future uncertain only few will know what is now to come.