How US-Iran relations getting worse with each passing day

The new Iran which was born in 1979 after ousting the monarchy, has a history of tensed relations with the USA. However, JCPOA agreed upon by Iran and America in 2015 had given a ray of hope from which Trump administration withdrew in 2018. The lack of mutual trust seems to be the root cause of tensions between both the countries.

The US-Iran relations are getting worse with each passing day as none of them is showing the signs of de-escalating tensions in the ongoing tussle. Contrary to that Iranian authorities have openly expressed their intentions to intensify the ongoing tension by issuing aggressive statements to which the US agencies are reacting in the same vein. 

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has announced that Iran has surpassed the 4.5% purity level of Uranium enrichment on Monday morning, according to Iranian Student's News Agency (ISNA). Iran was not allowed to cross a 3.67 percent purity level according to the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal from which the US President Donald Trump announced unilateral withdrawal in May 2018.

Behrouz Kamalvandi: The level of Iran’s uranium enrichment has surpassed the 4.5% on Monday

— ISNA International (@Isna_Int) July 8, 2019

 

The US imposed new sanctions on Iran after June 20 when Iran shot down a US surveillance drone - RQ-4 Global Hawk, the world’s largest surveillance drone worth $130m. Justifying its action, Iran claimed that the spy drone was violating the sovereignty of Iranian airspace near Kuhmobarak in the southern province of Hormozgan while the US agencies insisted that the unmanned drone was flying over Strait of Hormuz in International airspace. The US President Donald Trump tweeted "Iran made a very big mistake". He did not say what had happened. It was only the next day that he mentioned the incident explicitly and tweeted that the US was all ready to retaliate but stopped only ten minutes before the strike on his instruction when he came to know the strikes could kill 150 people. He targeted the Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - once again calling it a 'desperate and terrible deal' made by his predecessor Barack Obama. 

What is Iran nuclear deal?

After a series of talks and negotiations, the P5+1 and Iran reached on a deal to resolve to the Iranian nuclear issue. This deal was signed in 2015 and was formally named as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Besides the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - US, UK, Russia, China, and France, Germany was also involved in the negotiation process of JCPOA. The agreement has several provisions to roll back Iran's nuclear weapons program. It required Iran to reduce its stockpiles and keep it under 300 kilograms of 3.67 percent enriched Uranium. Under the deal, Iran also agreed to allow IAEA officials for inspection. According to the deal, once the  IAEA verified Iran's compliance, the sanction imposed by the US, UN, EU would have been lifted. The deal was lauded as a win-win situation for both - Iran and the West. The UN body, IAEA confirmed the compliance of Iran and subsequently sanctions were lifted to boost the economy.  

However, this bonhomie could not last for long as the deal signed under Obama's presidency was unilaterally withdrawn by Donald Trump in May 2018. The deal was criticized by the US agencies for it did not put any restriction on Iran's missile program and the controversial 'sunset clause' which means the deal would gradually become less strict over the years. At the time of signing the deal, it was considered among one of the biggest achievements of Obama's foreign policy but the new administration has been critical of Obama's policies and schemes on foreign as well as domestic matters.

Beginning of crisis in US-Iran relations

The US-Iran relations have been strained for a very long time. The relationship took a dramatic turn in 1979 when the Iranian Revolution ousted the pro-American Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and replaced him with anti-American supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The year marked the end of the monarchy and Pehalvi dynasty in Iran. Later in the same year, another incident occurred which shook the American administration. The incident referred to as 'Iran hostage crisis' where 52 American diplomats were held hostages for more than a year. The next year Iran and Iraq engaged in a war - Iran Iraq War; which lasted for around eight years. During the war, the US sided with Iraq and supplied weapons to Saddam Husain administration. However, in the course of time, the relationship between Husain and the United States became so tensed that the US attacked Iraq and destroyed him completely. 

The following years saw no radical change in the equation, instead, there were sanctions imposed on Iran. Coming to the 21st century, Iran's nuclear program took the center stage. The US claimed Iran was developing nuclear weapons while Iran maintained that the program was for peaceful civilian purposes.

Tough time ahead for Iran

The ongoing crisis between the two countries has become a subject of urgent concern for the international community and various stakeholder as both countries are flexing muscles for war. But according to a report in Al-Jazeera, it is not the fear of war that is threatening Iranians but the economic impact on their daily life. The ordinary Iranian is still suffering and will continue to suffer with or without the break out of the conventional war. This is because the Iranian economy is suffering due to economic sanctions and will continue to plunge further if the sanctions continue. 

However, all the hopes have not died. After the initial warmongering that escalated up to the extent of threats and counter-threats by the US and North Korea to destroy each other with nuclear weapons, the Trump administration has finally initiated peace talks with North Korea. The US President Donald Trump had recently an one to one meeting with his 'friend' Pyongyang. Now, Trump receives 'warm' letters from his 'friend' in Pyongyang, expresses 'respect and friendship' for him.

The seriousness of the US-Iran issue requires the international community to take bolder steps to ameliorate the situation which should start with easing sanctions. If Trump follows similar diplomacy with Iran that he has with North Korea, the tensions would start deescalating and situations will possibly improve.  

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.