The United States has had a difficult relationship with Iran. Officially, it can be said that before 2015, the United States and Iran had not had a relationship for almost 38 years. It was in 2015 that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany. This was also the first agreement that the United States had with Iran since 1979. It was expected that post-JCPOA era would provide a positive environment of engagement between the United States and Iran . However, President Trump’s administration has severed United States’ involvement in the deal.
Some of the primary issues that need to be addressed in the US-Iranian relations include US and Iran nuclear activities, trade volumes between the two nations and the effects of US sanctions on the politics and economy of Iran.
President Donald Trump’s administration has played a role in violating provisions of the JCPOA. The justification for this is that according to Trump, Iran has continued its nuclear program. However, President Trump has not provided proof to back this claim. On May 8 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order that reimposed certain sanctions on Iran. The sanctions are economic policies that are designed to ensure that Iran changes some of its policies. However, the negative effect of the sanctions is that they may make future engagements between the United States and Iran difficult . President Trump’s administration has also focused on reducing the pace of development and transfer of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technology .
Both Iranian and United States authorities should focus on meeting their end of the deal in the JCPOA agreement. The administrator’s should not succumb to local and international pressure and focus on dialogue as a means of ironing out the thorny issues that may cause strife in the relationship .
The National Security Council would like to see stability in the US-Iran relationships. In addition, members of the Security Council would not want to experience any form of nuclear threat from Iran or any other nation.
- Aaron Stein, “The Trump Administration’s Iran Policy is a Mess,” Last modified April 12, 2019, https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/the-trump-administrations-iran-policy-is-a-mess/
- Daniel R. Depetris, “Iran and US should Use the UN to Reopen a Channel for Dialogue,” Last modified September 10, 2018, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/iran-and-the-us-should-use-the-un-to-reopen-a-channel-for-dialogue
- Suzanne Maloney, “Trump Wants a Bigger, Better Deal with Iran. What Does Tehran Want?” Last modified August 8, 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/08/08/trump-wants-a-bigger-better-deal-with-iran-what-does-tehran-want/
- White House, “Executive Order Reimposing Certain Sanctions with Respect to Iran,” Last modified August 6, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-reimposing-certain-sanctions-respect-iran/
