USA and Iran Relations - Research Paper Example

Executive Summary: Iran U.S bitter diplomatic relationships are an important account of the last three decades and they have had an impact on the overall situation of the global politics and economy of the world. The fact that Iran remains one of the world’s largest oil producers makes the matter more important and solution seeking. The relationships have extreme sour states to presently hopeful state. The Islamist state has been time and again blamed of imposing its influences in the regional politics. On the other hand, Iranian side has always held United States as a force that has aimed at imposing its imperialistic pursuits. Iran’s time and again expression of jingoism and hostility towards Israel has not done the relationship between United States of America and Iran any good. Given the fact, U.S.A does possess a soft corner for Israel. In the historic perspective, the occurrence of Iranian revolution, the standoff over the nuclear weapons attainment, the alleged participation and interference of Iran in the neighboring countries are few of the charges brought up against them. The recent talks over the potential deal with regard to the nuclear standoff of Iran come as a hope against the three decades long obstruction that has been evident in the political landscape. Statement of the issue: A long impeding bilateral relationship, stands at crossroads with the presently presented possible nuclear deal. The impact is directly going to reflect on the regional peace, and more importantly on the crippled economy of Iran that is in absolute shambles. The global players have an important role to play. Iranian leadership has a responsibility upon their shoulders as well. Background: Iran is one of the most influential states in the Western Asia. The important is derived on account of the oil reserves present in the country. This is followed by the geostrategic location of Iran. Being neighbor with countries Iraq and Kuwait that remained center of attention and attraction towards the later part of 20th century made it more important. Its stance regarding Israel is of resentment towards the Western World in general and America in particular. The alleged interference of United States of America in the Iranian domestic politics is a reason that has been termed as point of conflict between these two states. The roots of these allegations and betterment stretch back far into the early days of Cold War, with U.S.A aiming to increase its influence in the region. The event of 1953 is one of the first and initial factors that came forth. Throughout the history of political bitterness between these two states, U.S.A denied its role, however Iran always accused U.S.A of having plotted the scheme and having overthrown the elected government. In recent days, reports and findings by different investigative and political history narrators have hinted at the potential role of C.I.A in the 1953 coup aimed at out posting the elected government at that time. Iran has time and again blamed United States of America in company with the Great Britain for the coup instated (Daryaee, 2012, 356). The relationship remained friendly between these two states for next two decades courtesy a pro Western government. The coup resulted in the establishment of a ruler in the name of Mohammad Raza shah. His actions were in complete consonance with the policies of the United States of America towards the region. His reign lasted for as long as 26 years (Gareau, 2004, p. 173), however this was taken for by extreme hostility at home. The entire situation took a new turn in 1979 when the American backed government was eventually toppled by the local political setup. It came about in the form of Iranian Revolution under the banner and guidance ship of Grand Ayotullah Khomeni. The Revolution was absolutely against the West and this resulted in the complete deadlock of any kind of relationship and bilateral diplomatic ties between the two states. During those days, the Cold war was at its peak between the U.S.S.R and U.S.A. U.S.S.R supported the deposing of the pro Western Shah and welcomed the move of Iranian revolution that was aimed at establishing a more eastern and pro Islamic government. The government in place had a natural hardliner stance towards the state of Israel and this was not taken well by the United States of America. Since 1979 the relationship has been at a deadlock. The desire of Iran towards acquiring nuclear status has led to further strangulation of the ties between the two states. This in turn has led to the sanctions imposing by the United States of America. Apart from U.S.A, the European Union and United Nations have also imposed large scale sanctions on Iran and this has led to the direct negative impact on the economy of the Iran. The subsequent outcome is in form of the massive inflation rates. The inflation rates are as high as 29 to 30 percent. The currency depreciation rates are ever so high, the local currency stands at a twenty three thousand against one dollar of United States of America. The large number of foreign reserves being frozen has not done any justice to the dismal state of Iran’s economic health. Policy option: In the wake of the above stated scenario there are number of possible options for United States of America. These options come in a set of possible schemes implementation. The following are few of the possible options in this regard. Intense sanctions on Iran: This may be followed as a continuation of the already imposed sanctions on Iran. This would further cripple the crippled standing state of Iranian economic strength. The possible aims against could be to force Iran into surrendering into giving up its nuclear ambitions and resorting to mutual co existence in the region without the acquiring of the nuclear material. The change of stance of Iran towards Israel is another area that would be targeted by United States and its allies. List and history of U.S Sanctions on Iran: Through different periods U.S has subjected Iran to various sanctions. The first of it came about in 1979 immediately after the Revolution was initiated. The scope of these sanctions was further expanded towards the 1995- 1996 (Katzman, 2010, p.1). During this time the U.N sanctions were also brought into action. This was in return to the demand by U.N for curtailing over its nuclear ambitions. U. N resolution 1929, 1984, 2049 are few of the instances and accounts of the sanctions that have been imposed on Iran time and again and have left to the handicapping of its economy and overall economic health. Military strikes on Iran: The second possible option is that of hitting upon the areas that are alleged to have chemical installations. The chemical power plants and other installations that have possible chances of being used for nuclear fuel enrichment is another option in this regard. The use of such force by Israel in this regard cannot be ruled out and Israel under the auspices of United States of America may perform this task and pour water over all the progress made towards a nuclear Iran by the Iranian nuclear scientists. Diplomatic activities engagement The third possible option is to find a diplomatic and political solution to the long standing standoff. This may either be undertaken individually by the United States of America or collective in the form of the powerful few. The recent times have seen one possible attempt by the global leaders. Geneva talks: Geneva talks are dubbed as P5 +1. Geneva talks were an aim at bringing an amicable solution to the long standing issue of Iran nuclear crisis. The events unfolded towards the end of 2013 in November in Geneva with the agreements towards future dialogue and giving peace a chance. In January 2014 another phase of the meeting and negotiations was performed. Under the initial agreement and conditions set forth, Iran would curtail upon the nuclear material enrichment and would get benefits of release of the long held foreign reserves that are frozen in the Western financial corners. The amount that is to be released amounts for of 7 billion dollars. The second part of this agreement is to permit the United Nations watch dog entity I.A.E.A( International Atomic Energy Agency) and permit it monitoring the progress and process of nuclear enrichment and determine if the ongoing enrichment is in the scope of the United Nations charter and is really being used for the civilian purposes (Jones, 2014,p 34). Pros and cons of each option: Each of the actions undertaken will have a aftermath and impact on the region and on the state of Iran’s existence. In case of the possible attacks on Iran through controlled military strikes, there are chances of retaliation from Iran’s side. the possible retaliation may come about towards Israel. This may in the worst case scenario lead to the war outbreak between the two regional states and this is the least desired situation at present. The world community may not favor this as the chances of backlashes are high and heavy in this case. At present the likelihood of this case appears very dim as well. Being amongst the world’s top three exporters and producers of the oil, the impact of all these possible options would fall upon the international oil industry. The success of dialogue process would allow for easy access to the oil deposits and resources, the strangulation of the ties and negotiations may impact in oil becoming further rare and dear to the international markets. Factors that may impact the process: The factors that would impact the final conclusion and success of these ongoing dialogue processes include the will from each side, the endurance and tolerance level, believing in the dialogue process, fulfilling the commitments and finally giving dialogue a chance having tried other options through decades without any positive extraction out of it. The case of sanctions imposing is another possible option that is mentioned above. The impact of this would be further telling on the economy of Iran. Already in shambles, it can little sustain any further sanctions and it would further drag it into the state of isolation. The oil prices and the oil market may see a direct impact in the rates as a result of this as well. The American Congress has echoed its concerns over the ongoing negotiations process and has asked President Barack Obama for a further stiff stance towards Iran on account of its aspirations towards acquiring nuclear material. Dialogue must be given a chance, for it is in the interest of the world community, the regional peace and the welfare of the people of Iran. References: Daryaee, T. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press. Gareau, F. H. (2004). State Terrorism and the United States: From Counterinsurgency to the War on Terrorism. Zed Books.Press. Jones, B. (2014). Still Ours to Lead: America, Rising Powers, and the Tension between Rivalry and Restraint. Brookings Institution Press. Katzman, K. (2010). Iran Sanctions. 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