Iran 's Current Status Of The Middle East, But Not A Nuclear Iran

As Michael Axworthy states on the back cover of his book, A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind, Iran is a “land of contradictions”. As this is true these contradictions is what makes Iran, Iran. Iran today is looked as the pinnacle of the Islamic faith in the form of a Government structure. Since 1979, Iran has been known as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran will continue being an Islamic Republic for centuries to come. Iran has a rich history of intellectuals and scholars. Iran is known for its vibrant culture that dates back longer than the Western Ideals were even conceived. However Axworthy asks a question about Iran and its impact on the world’s history and the current events that we see in Iran today, Axworthy asks “Is Iran an aggressive power, or a victim?” This statement is a true paradox, can Iran be the next Nazi Germany, the next Soviet Union or the next Great Islamic Caliphate or is Iran just fighting to keep its culture alive from a vast array of attacks from foreign entities and internal struggles.

In the year 2014, The United States and Iran are considering working together in order to put a stop to the threats posed by the militant group, Isis. This is a big step for the two countries since just in 2013, the United States threatened to use force against Iran to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Even though, the two countries are facing a common enemy, Iraq; this does not reduce the tension that the U.S and Iran have towards each other. For 60 years, the U.S. had a tumultuous relationship with Iran. From the removal of Iran Prime Minister in 1953 to the most recent, Iran’s nuclear agenda, the United States have been involved. This raises the questions of how did the U.S. involvement in past history shape current Iran

Contemporary actions against the nation of Iran stem from the United States’ self-appointed obligation to fight that terrorism abroad, as well as the rise of an Iranian nuclear program. Iran’s claim to be solely interested in nuclear power for its energy benefits is continually met with skepticism, as Iran refuses to meet all requirements of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which they are a signatory. The United States is also deeply interested in peace within the Middle East. The political, religious, and ideological differences in the region have turned into a decades-long conflict for which the American public has a waning appetite. As such, the US has employed a number of DIME efforts to induce Iranian compliance with the political goals stated in the NSS.

Iran’s government by definition is considered to be theocratic since it is ultimately controlled by a single religious leader; Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei. Although Iran has an elected president, Hassan Rouhani, the supreme leader/ayatollah controls the military, state broadcasting services and the judicial sector. The Islamic Republic of Iran, previously known as Persia, first established diplomatic ties with the United States in 1883. Many people do not understand the importance, significance, and/or second and third order effects of U.S.-Iranian relations, although important. As mentioned in an article by Akhilesh Pillalamarri, “Iran is uniquely poised to help stabilize the region,” likely through its current circumstances and shared international interests. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe the significance past and present of Iran to the United States and the second and third order effects, furthermore providing predictive analysis concerning the overall significance. Secondly, assessing and discussing how Iran impacts the Middle East in all aspects while providing analysis into the second and third order effects. Lastly, this paper will formulate a clear and concise short and long term predictive assessment on Iran, with a clear picture of the future intelligence value of the country.

The relationship between the West and Iran has been notoriously rocky. Several main factors accumulating at the beginning in the 20th century have led to a perfect storm of religion, imperialism and radicalism that have come together to create the Islamic Republic of Iran that was built primarily on anti-Americanism. How did this happen and why is this republic so anti-American? The Islamic Republic is built upon a revolutionary type of anti-Americanism that can be “found among opposition groups seeking to overthrow regimes closely identified with the United States; attacking such regimes thus involves attacking the United States.”

The Supreme Leader, President, and the Head of Expediency Council have shown cooperation to maintain the stability. The come together and place their differences aside. As stated previously, Iran’s decision making policy is lengthy and needs refining. Although genuine disputes do exist within the government, there is relative agreement for policy, especially during periods when Iran is threatened. In President George W. Bush State of the Union address in 2002, the US President referred to Iran as a rogue state and a member of the “Axis of Evil”. It is still apparent the people of Iran have a dislike accompanied with a strong distrust towards the West. In a recent special the Iranian people were pleasant to the US reporter in the streets, however; clearly stated that the US is Satan. Today the US is demanding Iran to cease their nuclear program. The future of our relationship with Iran is currently being

This paper will show that the US and its allies should take a more Hard Power approach when it comes to nuclear program of Iran. The paper will show how Iran cannot be trusted, due to its history of braking its word, and how the deals that we have made so far shows that the world is giving them the ability to create nuclear weapons. Also I will show how the resent agreements mad heave not done enough to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.

The greatest threat to the United States in today’s world is Iran’s investment in nuclear proliferation and its potential to destabilize the region. Iran has shown a history of aggression towards not only the U.S., but countries in the region as well. Acquiring nuclear weapons and the capability to deliver those weapons against the U.S. or its allies poses significant ramifications. In order to reverse Iran’s progress towards developing a nuclear bomb along with the associated delivery platforms, the U.S. must engage Iran more forcefully using containment, deterrence, and pre-emption. This paper will begin with an overview of Iran’s history with the U.S., followed by an explanation of why Iran’s nuclear ambitions are detrimental

Iran’s clerical regime with a highly complicated government structure is an emergent economy in the Middle East. While the historical hostility between the countries, is more than the Iran’s nuclear program, but now the center of debates are Iran’s nuclear program and US-Israel relationship. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has reduced tensions between both countries. However, Israel and Saudi Arabia, two allies of the US and adversaries of Iran has opposed the agreement. Iran is till considered a threat to the US national interest and security. The risks cannot be eliminated only by military means, but it requires a comprehensive strategy. It is important to reduce the capability of Iran and change its intention. The best possible way to do this is supporting a gradual political transition of power from an extremist religious leader to the Iranian nation.

Islamic fundamentalism has been the cause of the long-term hostility involving the United States and Iran. However, there are other substantive causes of this disagreement that have existed for a long time in the history of both countries. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), which is a military organization that is made up of countries from North America and a reasonable part of Europe, was established to enhance global security and peace (Cottam 1988, p.18). This has also been a great issue of concern in the raging war existing between the U.S. and the Iranian government. Over the years, the objectives of NATO have changed to be more focused on a military structure due to the opposition that it has faced from diverse quarters since its birth (Crane 2008, p.15).

Prior to assessing the actual threat of a nuclear Iran, it is necessary to analyze why Tehran is pursuing this capability. Many experts view Iran—a country that invests heavily in Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Assad regime in Syria, and Houthi rebels in Yemen—as an aspiring regional hegemon. This may explain why Tehran has endured extraordinary isolation to develop its nuclear program. Merely possessing nuclear weapons would significantly strengthen Iran’s relative power over its neighbors. , Others claim that Iran views itself as a vulnerable state surrounded by adversaries, and therefore is pursuing nuclear weapons as a deterrent. They argue that the current Iranian regime is historically a passive actor primarily motivated by self-preservation rather than hegemonic aspirations. Some scholars believe that deterrence and hegemony are not mutually

It is a common conception that Obama’s prior efforts of engagement with the Iranian government have set many precedents for how the U.S is to communicate with Iran (and the Middle East) in the future, with some even referencing Obama’s attempts to amend the relationship between the two countries as monumental for not just the political legacy of the U.S, but specifically, the Obama administration as well. The relationship between the two countries seems to be primarily focused on the fact that the U.S is trying to control how Iran manages their nuclear weapons program, as the Obama Administration is unsure of what the nuclear capacity of the country is, and thusly, this may severe and cause suspicion to arise not just with reference to neighboring countries, but also one that connects to dangers that are prevalent on an international level; this is important because we are not aware of what the destructive capacity of the weapons are as a whole, due to the secretism that the Iranian regime’s nuclear program undertakes when looking into building their weaponry. The Obama Administration seems to have taken the approach of establishing strong diplomatic ties in order to prevent Iran from engaging in any acts of mass terrorism, as they have priorily expressed interest in taking action against Israel. In some cases the U.S utilized sanctions, some which caused disruption in their oil industry, thusly impacting their economy to a certain degree. Many have criticized Obama’s

The first fact is that a nuclear program functioning in Iran would cause a very devastating effect for the rest of the world. The threat

The relationship between the United States and Iran has increasingly been deteriorating, especially since Tehran began to flex its muscles following the Iraq war in 2003 and its insistence on maintaining its uranium enrichment program. Both sides have grievances against each other that date back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and beyond (Ben-Meir, 2009).

Among the nations of the Middle East, The Islamic Republic of Iran stands as an oddity. It is a nation with a unique history, culture, and national identity. Formally known as Persia, Iran is the only non-Arab nation in the Middle East and the only Shi’ite theocracy in the world. The world’s first empire sprang out of Iran and spread from Egypt and Greece in the west to modern cultural identity day India in the East. Iran’s diverse history has manifested into a unique that has put Iran’s political objectives in conflict with many of its Middle Eastern neighbors and Western Civilization.