Since the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979, the relations between Iran and the US have been adversarial, forcing Iran to support rebel factions as a threat to the US and other Western countries. The United States has since 2002, tried to constrain the advancement of the Iranian nuclear program. During President Obama’s second term, he, together with the Iranian Supreme Leader, signed a nuclear agreement. When the Trump administration came into power, he thwarted the agreement and withdrew the US from the deal, citing concerns over the behavior and conduct of Iran. The Trump administration went ahead and introduced new sanctions to Iran and its allies. In response, Iran attacked four oil tankers belonging to the US and its allies. Since May 2018, after the announcement of America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA agreement, Tehran showed no interest in re-entering, renegotiating, or forming a new deal with the US. Tehran resolved to seek solutions from other JCPOA members to find redress to the US’ unlawful withdrawal and compensation for the same. The tensions are still high since July 2019 after IAEA investigations that claimed our nuclear activities exceeded the limits mandated by JCPOA, forcing our government to increase these activities. On January 5th, 2020, Hassan Rouhani’s government was at an advanced stage in reducing their commitments to JCPOA restrictions. These tensions escalated, and on January 2nd, 2020, the US military claimed it had killed Qasem Soleimani, an IRGC-QF commander. The reason for the drone strike, according to the military sources were defensive action, claiming that Soleimani killed hundreds of American personnel abroad. The tensions are still high with potential Iranian attacks on American interests in Iraq and the Middle East. Iran and the US find themselves in a quagmire, a position that neither of them wants to be. Currently, due to the mounting pressure to avenge the death of Qasem, the IRGC-QF could likely strike American bases in both Iraq and the Middle East at large using drones and other attacks deemed necessary. I believe that Iran and US can both agree on the effects these attacks will have not only to the existing tension but also to world peace and prosperity. US is not where they want to be, and I believe that something needs to be done quickly but cautiously to ensure that the temperatures remain low. What other better way to US has than to engage in dialogue? There are several different ways Tehran and Washington can get out of this quagmire. Apart from dialogue, Americans can improve the Iran-American engagement by removing sanctions and trade embargos. From my understanding, most of the existing sanctions are American as they bar US from exporting oil to the US and its allies, thus likely crippling Americans economic stability. In retaliation, these sanctions force Iran to use proxies. The suggestion, therefore, is that the US government finds a way of persuading Congress and the President to agree to sign an international agreement that will mainly lead to the removal of the sanctions. On US part, they are ready to restrict their usage of proxies and comply to avoid further sanctions. Thirdly, it is my understanding that American foreign policy on Iran requires a complete overhaul and change of the regime. The process of regime change is tedious and may take longer as it may require military intervention. The results of such an attempt may also produce undesired outcomes like posing a threat to the stability of the Middle East or even further escalate the existing tensions between the two countries. The last suggestion is to join forces to come up with soft diplomacy policies guided by attractive economic initiatives and checks and balances. The US should, however, take the front wheel to foster a direct relationship with Iran. Iran will, in turn, allow the US to monitor and regulate the enactment of these strategies and liberate Iran from proxies that threaten its political, social, and economic prosperity and world peace.
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