Increasing tensions between United States and Iran

A string of volatile incidents has raised tensions between the two countries.

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Jan. 9, 2012: An Iran court convicted an American with dual U.S./Iranian citizenship of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death. Iran authorities allege American was on a spy mission, but his family says he was visiting his grandmother.

/ AP

Jan. 4, 2012: Iran's parliament prepared a bill to bar foreign warships from the Persian Gulf. The Obama administration dismissed the bill as overblown rhetoric.

MC3 DANIEL A. BARKER, USN / via Bloomberg News

Jan. 3, 2012: Iran's armed forces commander warned a U.S. aircraft carrier to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz, which bisects the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, and plays a significant role in global oil trade.

MC3 Kenneth Abbate / AP

Dec. 8, 2011: Iranian state television aired video of what it says was the U.S. drone downed in Iran on Dec. 4.

/ AP

Nov. 29, 2011: Iranians stormed the British Embassy compound and diplomatic residence. Two days later, European nations stiffened sanctions against Iran.

Vahid Salemi / AP

Nov. 10, 2011: Iran's supreme leader warned the United States and Israel that any attack on Iran's nuclear program would be met with the "iron fists of ... the great Iranian nation."

/ AP

Nov. 8, 2011: The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report saying it had "serious concerns" that Iran is secretly building a nuclear bomb. Iran's official news service dismissed the IAEA allegation.

Ronald Zak / AP

Oct. 11, 2011`: U.S. officials said they foiled a terrorist plot backed by factions of the Iranian government aimed at assassinating the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Iran's supreme leader said the allegations were false and an attempt by Western countries to bolster consensus against Iran.

SHAUN HEASLEY / Reuters

Sept. 21, 2011: Iran freed two U.S. hikers who had been jailed since 2009 on spying charges. The two men were arrested in the mountainous regions between the Iran/Iraq border.

/ AP

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