Iran and theUnitedStates: A Conflict Resolution Perspective

Abstract

The interim nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States (under Iran‐P5 + 1 umbrella) in November 2013 revived attention to the problem of the Iran‐U.S. conflict and its resolution. The key issues to understand are: first, the reasons for the start of nuclear dispute resolution between Iran and the United States despite failure of all the past reconciliation initiatives; and second, the agreement's implications for overall conflict resolution between the two countries. Relying on the “ripeness theory” and its development in response to criticisms, the central argument of the article is that the start of direct negotiations and efforts of Iran and the United States to reach agreement over the nuclear dispute is due to ripeness of the overall Iran‐U.S. conflict as a result of a nuclear “asymmetric hurting stalemate.” Explaining the factors that disrupt normalization of relations under conditions of ripeness, the article presents four scenarios for the future of Iran‐U.S. relations.

Iran’s Nuclear Policy: A Cognitive Study on Defiance and Compliance

“…Others have gone beyond this rationality-irrationality duality to explain Iran's nuclear behaviour and also Tehran's reaction to sanctions. Soltaninejad (2015) attributes the failures and successes in negotiations between Iran and the US to lack/presence of mutually hurting stalemates and mutually enticing opportunities. Sebenius and Singh (2012) also point to the absence of any zone of possible agreement to explain failures in negotiation with Iran to settle the nuclear dispute.…”