Iran–United States relations

There are no formal diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America. Because the two nations currently do not have direct diplomatic relations, instead of exchanging ambassadors, Iran maintains an interests section at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., while the United States has maintained a corresponding interests section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran (since 1980). Since December 2011, the United States has also maintained a virtual embassy on-line.

Relations between the two nations began in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Initially, while Iran was very wary of British and Russian colonial interests during the Great Game, the United States was seen as a more trustworthy Western power, and the Americans Arthur Millspaugh and Morgan Shuster were even appointed treasurers-general by the Shahs of the time. During World War II, Iran was invaded by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, both US allies, but relations continued to be positive after the war until the later years of the government of Mohammad Mossadeq, who was overthrown by a coup organized by the Central Intelligence Agency and aided by the MI6. This was followed by an era of very close alliance and friendship between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's regime and the U.S. government, which was in turn followed by a dramatic reversal and disagreement between the two countries after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. During this era, Iran was one of the United States' closest allies.

United States

Coordinates: 40°N 100°W / 40°N 100°W / 40; -100

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.842 million km²) and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Iran

Iran (/aɪˈræn/ or ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/;Persian: Irān – ایران‎‎ [ʔiːˈɾɒːn]), also known as Persia (/ˈpɜːrʒə/ or /ˈpɜːrʃə/), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ایران – Jomhuri ye Eslāmi ye Irān [d͡ʒomhuːˌɾije eslɒːˌmije ʔiːˈɾɒːn]), is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan; with Kazakhstan and Russia across the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world. With 78.4 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 17th-most-populous country. It is the only country that has both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. Iran has long been of geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz.

The U (film)

The U is a 2009 documentary film about the University of Miami football program. It was produced by Miami-based media studio Rakontur and directed by Billy Corben.

The film premiered December 12, 2009 after the Heisman Trophy presentation on ESPN as a part of their 30 for 30 documentary series. The U's premiere drew 2.3 million viewers, the most ever for a documentary on the sports cable network until the debut of Pony Excess, another college football documentary about the Southern Methodist University football scandal in the 1980s.

DVD release

This film was released on DVD in 2010, both separately and as part of the 30 for 30 box set. The DVD cover, depicting Michael Irvin, originally had the "U" logo on his helmet, but it was airbrushed from the cover after the University of Miami objected to the logo's appearance. Excerpts from Florida State University's "Seminole Rap" video that initially appeared in the documentary were also cut from the DVD release.

Sequel

In December 2014, ESPN released a second 30 for 30, titled The U Part 2. The film documents the second rise to glory of the Miami Hurricanes football team in the late 1990s and early 2000s followed by the eventual fall of the program, due largely to a scandal in which multiple top players accepted cash rewards from booster, Nevin Shapiro.

The Young Turks

The Young Turks (TYT) is an online American liberal/progressive political and social commentary program hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian; the show has an associated network of online shows and is owned by a company of the same name (The Young Turks LLC). TYT was founded in 2002 by Uygur as a talkshow on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The Young Turks claims to be "the world's largest online news show"; YouTube video views for the TYT Network stood at a total of 2 billion as of July 2014. The show offers internet-only video content via their YouTube channel, which in April 2012 averaged 750,000 views a day, and by November 2014 over 1,400,000 views a day. The Young Turks also have a network of other affiliated shows on separate YouTube channels, known collectively as the TYT Network.

From 2011 to 2013 a second show, called The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur aired on Current TV. After Current TV was acquired by Al Jazeera America, the TV show was discontinued.

History

The Young Turks as a show began when Cenk Uygur started a talk show similar to a public-access television cable-TV show he had done previously called The Young Turk. With the help of friend Ben Mankiewicz (with whom he had previously worked), his childhood friend Dave Koller, and Jill Pike, he began The Young Turks as a radio show in 2002 on Sirius Satellite Radio. The show's name derives from the English-language phrase "Young Turk", meaning a reformist or rebellious member of an institution, movement, or political party.