America

Available scholarship does not agree on the exact date of Muslim arrival to America. Early Islam in America could have been a Pre-Columbian presence, while some scholars suggested a Columbian, or even a post-Columbian contact. None of the three views discuss the idea of Muslim minorities among early Muslims to America. (West) Africa was the origin to many free and slave Africans who later made it to America. Given the influence of various Muslim dynasties (e.g. Fatimids and Idrisids in North, and later in other parts of Africa), some questions are raised: were there any religious minorities among early Muslims who came (or were brought) to America; when did early Muslims entered America ? Contact theories were briefly reviewed to show early presence of Islam in America was multi-faceted. I traced the very first moments of Islam in America from among (west) African slaves. Interestingly, some slaves practiced Islam differently. It was suggested that since not much has been left from early Islam in America, in all probability early Muslims were slaves who did not have the power to establish their presence and practice their religion. Religious differences in early Islam in America seemed to be a matter of culture and choice, of which many Muslims might have been unaware. The paper concluded that the current literature on the history of (Shii) Muslim minorities in America focused on immigrants and did not cover periods of slavery. That might indicate why some scholars opined minorities like Shias came during late nineteenth century.

Sanctions have been used as a foreign policy tool since the post-World War II as an alternative means to war, to change governments or switch their behavior. From that period until now, the methods of imposing sanctions have become distinctive  and complicated. Additionally, sanctions have become increasingly smarter day by day. The history of sanctions imposed by the United States of America against the Islamic Republic of Iran dates back to the first year after the victory of the Islamic Revolution (1980). The sanctions imposed against Iran are among the most durable and at the same time the most extensive ones imposed against the government and people of any country in terms of duration, scope and methods of application. The general conclusions are that the application of sanctions against Iran, even with different goals, produced sufficient impact during the long time of their application, resulting in economic losses, great people’s suffering and relative isolation of Iran.However, it did not achieve the intended goals previously defined as basis for their application.  In this article, assuming the ineffectiveness of the sanctions (considering the failure to change of change in the government/behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the main goals of the United States, we seek to investigate the reasons for this ineffectiveness. In this article, by introducing the components and examples of political, economic, technological factors and geopolitical advantages the arguments for the ineffectiveness of the American sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran have been presented. Qualitative document analysis constitutes the research method applied in this article.