The United States has a pivotal opportunity to create dialogue in an effort to deescalate the situation regarding Iran's nuclear program. Iran's nuclear issue is tied to complex discussions about the role of the U.S. in the Middle East and American efforts to promote democracy. Sanctions and U.S. funding of reform groups have yet to be proved successful, while a military strike could prove disastrous. It as this crossroads that Americans for Informed Democracy finds itself in a place to promote diplomatic solutions to an escalating conflict.

Through a national summit, several discussions, lobbying, birddogging, townhall events, cultural events, and film screenings, AID has been working tirelessly to promote dialogue and diplomacy. Hundreds of young people have already started their own campaigns in their communities with the help of AID staff. To continue the momentum, AID will continue to support young people to become more involved. We can provide financial support, step-by-step toolkits that can be find on the Global Peace & Security homepage, and with some brief background information below for your use. Please contact AID should you need any assistance!

CONFERENCES:

At a Crossroads: Diplomacy & Iran International Videoconference - November 20th!!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The current relationship between the United States, Iran, and their foreign policies towards one another stem from a long, compleset of historical and political events.  These events extend back to World War II and the beginning of the Cold War.  During World War II, Iran served as an important strategic partner for the U.S. and allied powers to defeat Nazi Germany.  Following the war, the popular nationalist Prime MinisterMohammad Mossadeq ascended to power and took measures that threatened the Western powers’ interests in the nation and led them to fear a communist takeover in the nation.  For instance, Mossadeq nationalized the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and limited the powers of the pro-West Shah.  With the help of the British, the United States staged a coup in 1953 that overthrew Mossadeq, returned the Shah to power, and ensured a pro-Western government in Iran.

The Shah pushed for social and economic reform and modernization in Iran during his rule.  His method for creating this reform, however, upset and alienated many members of society, including the Shia clergy.  During this time, a prominent religious leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was arrested for his criticisms of the Shah and exiled to Turkey from where he eventually moved to Iraq and finally Paris.  In 1978, social unrest continued to rise in response to the Shah’s increasingly oppressive rule of law, and Khomeini formed the Islamic Revolutionary Council while in Paris.  The Shah was finally forced into exile in 1979 after protests and demonstrations.  Khomeini returned to Iran, seized power, and declared himself leader of the new Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Iran-Iraq War and events throughout the 1980s further strained U.S.-Iran relations.  In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran.  This action led to an eight year war and the deaths of millions of Iraqis and Iranians.  While the United States supplied both Iraq and Iran with weapons, it tended to favor Iraq and established diplomatic relations with the nation.  Additionally, Iran committed violent attacks against the United States’ embassy and troops in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983 and 1984.  The war ended in 1988 when Iran and Iraq signed a U.N. brokered cease-fire agreement.

During the 1990s, relations remained contentious yet stabilized near the end of the decade.  Iran’s foreign policies sought to not only assert itself as a regional power but also to protect itself from external threats and to spread Islamic revolution in the region.  The United States sought to isolate Iran by banning trade and placing various sanctions on Iran.  In the late 1990s, relations began to normalize with the election of the moderate cleric Mohammad Khatami and victories by various reformist candidates in municipal and Parliamentarian elections. The victory of hard liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential elections, however, significantly shifted the normalization in the U.S.-Iran relations period preceding it.   

The events from the past several decades have greatly shaped the current state of the relationship between the United States and Iran and the manner in which each nation views the other.  In addition, the election of Ahmadinejad in 2005 once again transformed the relationship and made Iran and its policies a concern for both the United States and the international community.  This concern centers around Iran’s opposition to the U.S. led Middle East peace process, its effort to develop weapons of mass destruction, its poor human rights record, and its association with terrorist organizations that seek to destabilize peace in the Middle East and regional stability.  Additionally, the war in Iraq has led to greater concern for the United States over Iran.  The war has contributed to empowering Iran rather than push the nation towards a secular democracy as the United States had hoped prior to the invasion in Iraq.

These concerns of the United States are in response to Iran’s aggressive foreign policy that seeks to assert itself as a regional power through the use of violence and developing weapons of mass destruction.  For example, Iran has supported radical Palestinian organizations and Hezbollah to attack Israel and disrupt efforts to create peace in the Middle East.  According to U.S. State Department reports, Iran has also supported other violent organizations to challenge the American presence in Iraq, destabilize progress in Iraq, and maximize its influence in the nation and region.  Iran has also been outspoken about its desire to acquire weapons of mass destruction.  Iran’s foreign policy, however, is constrained by a number of factors.  First, the relatively low living standards and high unemployment creates some discontent within society.  Additionally, its armed forces, including its air force and navy, are weak and limit its ability to carry out conventional military operations.  Western embargos and sanctions also limit Iran’s ability to strengthen its armed forces and hinder its ability to engage in traditional military combat with other nations. 

Despite the hostility and suspicion these two countries have held for one another throughout their complex relationship, there still remain opportunities and interests that can foster peaceful and successful dialogue to create a more diplomatic relationship between the two.  For instance, both have an interest in the futures of Afghanistan and Iraq. A strengthened Afghanistan is in the interest of Iran and the United States, particularly to eliminate extremist movements like al-Qaeda and the Taliban.  Although Iran and the United States each desire to possess influence in Iraq, they both remain two of the strongest supporters of the current Iraqi government.  They also realize the importance of strengthening the territorial integrity of the nation in order to maintain a strong, central government.  Recent reports also suggest Iran may be lessening its role in providing arms and technology to insurgents in Iraq, and that it stopped its nuclear weapon development program in 2003.  This news might create an opportunity for the two countries to engage in direct talks with each other and to improve the U.S.-Iran relationship.

PROMINENT AMERICAN AND IRANIAN LEADERS

  United States:

President: George W. Bush

Vice President: Richard Cheney

Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of Defense: Robert M. Gates

National Security Advisor: Stephen J. Hadley

Ambassador to the United Nations: Zalmay Khalilzad

  Iran:

Leader of the Islamic Revolution: Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini

Supreme Leader: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

President: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

First Vice President: Parviz Davudi

Foreign Minister: Manouchehr Mottaki

Ambassador to the United Nations: Parviz Khazai

PROMINENT PRACTITIONERS AND THEORISTS

Ahmad Jalali: Former President of UNESCO’s General Conference

Haleh Esfandiari: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Director of the Middle East Program

Hamid Dabashi: Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University

Justin Logan: CATO Institute, Associate Director of Foreign Policy Studies

Patrick Clawson: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Deputy Director for Research

Ray Takeyh:  Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies

Stephen Kinzer: Author and former New York Times bureau chief

Suzanne Maloney: The Brookings Institution, Senior Fellow

Vali R. Nasr: Council on Foreign Relations, Adjunct Senior Fellow of Middle Eastern Studies

Thomas R. Pickering:  Former U.S. Under Secretary of State

William H. Luers: United Nations Association of the United States of America, President

RESOURCES AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR MORE INFORMATION

American Iranian Council: www.american-iranian.org

Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran: www.newiranpolicy.org

National Iranian American Council: www.niacouncil.org

ADDTIONAL REFERENCES

  “Background Note: Iran.”  United States Department of State.  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5314.htm#relations.

 Cordesman, Anthony H.  “Iran and the US: Key Issues from an American Perspective.”  Middle East Policy vol. 15, no. 1 (2008).

 Freeman Jr., Chas, Geoffrey Kemp, Suzanne Maloney, Richard Allen Roth, and Ray Takeyh.  “U.S. Policy Toward Iran: Time for a Change?”  Middle East Policy Council, Washington, D.C.  December 12, 2000. http://mepc.org/forums_chcs/23.asp.

 Gasiorowski, Mark.  “The New Aggressiveness in Iran’s Foreign Policy.”  Middle East Policy vol. 14, no. 2 (2007).

 Katzman, Kenneth.  “Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses.”  CRS Report for Congress.  November 29, 2004.

 Luers, William, Thomas R. Pickering, and Jim Walsh.  “A Solution for the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Standoff.”  New York Review of Books vol. 55, no 4 (2008).

 Maloney, Suzanne.  “How the Iraq War Has Empowered Iran.”  The Brookings Institution. March 21, 2008. http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0321_iraq_maloney.aspx. 

 Mazzetti, Mark.  “U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003.”  The New York Times, December 4, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/world/middleeast/04intel.html.

 PBS Online.  “Interviews.”  Frontline: Terror and Tehran. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/.

 US State Department, Country Reports on Terrorism, 2006, May 2007, pp. 145-146.