United States' Policy towards Iran after the Islamic Revolution

Abstract

The United States has pursued an antagonistic policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran ever since the fall of the pro-US monarchy. Even though subsequent US administrations since 1979 have been trying to restore earlier influence in that country, the disintegration of the Soviet Union has reinforced the US resolve to regain political leverage in Iran. The realization of this objective could remove a major impediment to the growing US hegemony in the region. Thus, Iran forms part of the Bush administration's so-called ‘axis of evil’. The Iranian Islamic government's autonomous foreign and domestic policies pose a challenge to the US-led Western bloc's preponderant political, military and economic influence in the Persian Gulf and South-west Asia. The ongoing pressure on Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme is an integral component of a multifaceted strategy that seeks to isolate Iran both at the regional and international levels. The US-led occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 11 September events have facilitated the encirclement of Iran with US military power. Further, the absence of a global counter-weight to check US interventionism in the region has increased the chances of US political or even military interference in Iran. Consequently, the US has enhanced its attempts to weaken and possibly overthrow the Islamic regime as part of its plans to redraw the political and strategic maps of the region. In this regard, the US is using various political and economic instruments to undermine the Iranian government.

The US Geopolitical Codes and Its Influences on the US-Iran Relations: The Case of George W. Bush’s Presidency

“…The Iranian people have not forgotten the comprehensive support of the US and its allies, even the Soviet Union, against territorial integrity of Iran. In addition, killing of all 290 Iranian passengers including men, women and children in an irritant incident, was another obvious threat and warn to Iran, when an Iranian passenger plane was shot down by a US Navy warship in international airspace in July 1988 (Yazdani & Hussain, 2006). These measures strengthened hostility between Iran's nation and the US for a long time.…”

“…The trend of relation between two countries was improving so fast that the US president, Clinton on April 12, 1999 explicitly declared that: (Bill, 2006, p. 30;Hiro, 2001, p. 244). Nonetheless, the United States continued its inimical policy against Iran, particularly in insisting on its accusation concerning the human rights affairs, terrorism and improvement of WMD capacity by Iran, which were obstacles to promote the Iran-US relations (Yazdani & Hussain, 2006).…”

“…He had explicitly said that: "you are either with us or against us in the fight against terror" (CNN.com, 2001c). In September 2002 also Bush presented the National Security Strategy (NSS) paper, which stressed on applying a strategy of pre-emptive military strike against any state or non-state enemy, which could be as a threat to the US security (Yazdani & Hussain, 2006). This strategy would allow to the US statesmen to use the US army in the different geographical places around the world, although it was specifically aimed at 'rogue states ' and 'terrorists'(The White House, 2002).…”

“…Iran by contrast, has adopted a cautious foreign policy in order to prevent any possible conflict of interests with the US and its allies (Yazdani & Hussain, 2006) . Of course, it does not out of the inability of Iran in the balance of power in the region.…”

“…It should be considered that, this policy was also a response and reaction to the threatening policies of the US during the past years. Following the Bush's "axis of evil", his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, overtly, denounced the Iranian government as "loathsome", in February 2005 (Yazdani & Hussain, 2006). She also mentioned Iran as one of the six "outposts of tyranny" in the world, in January 2005 (B.B.C news, 2005).…”