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People living in the U.S. might not want to travel to North Korea or Iran anytime soon. America isn’t too popular in these countries right now and getting detained in either country is a strong possibility these days. We recently seen the release of two American journalists who were held against their will in North Korea. It took a lot of connections and a former president (Bill Clinton) to finally get the release of these two American journalists in North Korea.

Now Iran is making headlines with a possible underground nuclear facility. Some European nations are even claiming that Iran may have a dozen or more of these types of underground sites for nuclear weapon purposes. Iran has stated that their attempts in the nuclear sectors have been for energy purposes only, but now they are claiming to have missile capabilities that could reach any country in the world. Israel is taking a hard-line stance against the Iranian nation and has even talked about delivering a first strike military action if needed.

Normally the United States is the country that takes the lead role in these weapons of mass destruction claims, but they appear to be taking a backseat when it comes to the latest news coming out of Iran. America is not taking their usual hard-stance and some countries in the region appear to be upset with the current relaxed U.S. stance toward Iran. Perhaps this has to do with President Obama and his team not wanting to follow old patterns that the U.S. normally takes in these types of situations. Israel is considered a friendly nation toward America, but Obama may be pushing the U.S. allies to the side, in the latest controversy surrounding the country of Iran.

Due to all the news that has happened this year in North Korea and Iran; Americans would be smart to stay out of both of these hostile nations. It just isn’t safe for any American to travel to Iran or North Korea in 2009 and the same will probably hold true in 2010. It’s unclear where the tensions will go from here with the United States and the nations of Iran and North Korea, but all travel plans should be cancelled to these two countries right now. Travelers have enough to worry about when they travel abroad and the fears of getting held hostage in North Korea or Iran are very real right now. The two American journalists did nothing wrong in North Korea and it took a long time for them to reach U.S. soil again. Iran has also been accused of holding American hikers that accidentally crossed over the borders into Iran. Both of these stories should be a wake up call for anyone that has plans to travel to Iran or North Korea.