The United States has decades-old history with Iran that has created a conflict so layered and complex, the modern-day tensions between the two nations are reminiscent of every past tension. Though the conflict between the nations can be traced back to the fifties and possibly earlier, the Iran nuclear deal as we know it today was based on sanctions created in the late 70’s.
In 1979, the last Shah of Iran of the Pahlavi dynasty, was exiled during the Iranian Revolution, or Islamic Revolution. After his exile, the Shah, a pro-Western and ‘puppet’ monarch, was permitted to enter the U.S. to receive treatment for cancer. President Jimmy Carter, though previously opposed to the entry of the Shah for medical treatment, had had a change of heart after learning the Shah was close to being on his deathbed. Carter trusted that the Iranian officials in Tehran would protect the American citizens still residing in the embassy in revolutionary Iran, as promised, should there be any repercussions.
However, despite hopes for the best, in retaliation to the actions of the United States, a group of Iranian students stormed the embassy in Tehran and took more than 60 hostages. Their intentions seemed to be to create a clear break from Westernism and the influence of the U.S. in Iranian affairs. The siege seemed to be directed at Carter, as the hostages were held for 444 days, the final 444 days of Carter’s term. They were released shortly after president Ronald Reagan gave his inaugural address.
In response to the siege, the United States placed heavy sanctions on Iran, in the form of an arms ban and an economic embargo. The embargo included sanctions on companies doing business with Iran, a ban on Iranian products and more, leaving Iran in a precarious economic state.
In 2008, diplomatic officials of the U.S. and Iran came together to discuss a new deal in which better terms considering nuclear weaponry and past sanctions could be developed between the two nations and a few others: France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China. The final deal would take seven years to complete and would be 159-pages with five separate annexes.
In July of 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also more commonly referred to as the Iran Nuclear Deal, was signed by numerous world powers with the goal of limiting Iran’s nuclear power and lifting sanctions in return. Iran agreed to disassemble its nuclear program and open up to further inspections and in return, they would receive billions of dollars in relief of the sanctions placed on them.
The deal seemed to be a success, regardless of its polarizing effect within Washington, up until 2018 when president Donald Trump chose to withdraw from the deal, despite strong protestations from U.S. allies like Germany, France and the UK, who all also signed the agreement. Following the withdrawal of the U.S. from the deal, Trump began adding sanction after sanction, hoping to pressure Iran’s economy enough to force the nation back into nuclear negotiations. The relationship between the United States and Iran has only deteriorated since then.
As Trump increased pressure, Iran retaliated by backing further and further away from the original deal by getting closer to developing a nuclear weapon. The deal is seen to have fully collapsed after Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general, was killed in a strike organized by the U.S. in January of 2020.
The decades-long rising tensions reached a peak during president Trump’s term but the repercussion of these tensions fall to President Biden now. Throughout his campaign, Biden made it clear that his intentions were to re-join the Iran nuclear deal and to renew diplomacy between the United States and Iran.
With the amount of history surrounding the deal and the tensions that arose under Trump, Biden’s stance needs to be careful and calculated. The topic has long been debated between democrats and republicans, opposition to the deal generally coming from a more conservative perspective.
The biggest concern in the minds of conservatives is the time limitation on the Iran Nuclear Deal. By 2025, certain aspects of Iran’s nuclear restrictions will expire and more will follow five years later. These specific capabilities that will reopen would leave the path to nuclear weapons clear for Iran. There were also concerns expressed by Trump that other aspects of Iran’s weapon capabilities were not kept in check by this deal, such as their missile program.
With all the promises made, public or otherwise, many are expecting Biden to come up with a real and more permanent solution, rather than just placations or a temporary hold on actions. Presidential campaigns involve a lot of talk and big dreams for diplomacy and foreign relations, but rarely do those dreams come to fruition; the unexpected being the culprit for guiding many a discussion into the gutter.
It is argued that Trump’s presidency favored the U.S. and helped parts of the country, but it cannot be denied that numerous foreign relations were weakened or completely dismantled during his term. It is now for Biden to decide what is salvageable and what is a lost cause.
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