US-IRAN: Between Confrontation and Reconciliation

Abstract

The US policy towards Iran is a part and parcel of its broader policy towards the Middle East and the Arabian (Persian) Gulf in particular. Most of the American targets, whether in the Middle East or Asia, are related to Iran, due to its possession of the military and geostrategic location that qualifies it to be an influential regional power in the future. Iran represents one of the challenges facing the United States, prompted the latter to deal with it according to constants and determinants, regardless the various US administration, which aimed at containing Iran and eliminating the threat that it could impose on its interests in the region.The paper aims to identify the position that Iran occupies in the strategy of the United States of America and to clarify the determinants of American foreign policy, which highlight the points of convergence and divergence in the US-Iranian relations. A special attention is given to the nuclear file and sanctions that are considered as the factors affecting the domestic political and economic situation, as well as Iran’s foreign policy. The authors adhere to the theories of the balance of power and regional security complexes, the principle that the foreign policy of a state is dictated by the logic of the international system and the distribution of force among states. The structural and systemic approach, as well as the historical methodology are used in order to formulate idea about the past and present of Iranian-American relations.