Iran's Post-9/11 Grand Bargain: Missed Opportunity for Strategic Rapprochement Between Iran and the United States

Abstract

One of the most significant foreign policy dilemmas for the United States is the current stalemate with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The history of U.S.-Iran relations, since the CIA orchestrated coup of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq in 1953, is one of mutual distrust and policy error. Although successive American presidents since Iran's 1979 revolution have tried to improve relations, each effort failed because both sides refused to adjust the context through which they viewed the other. The events of 9/11, however, provided an unprecedented opportunity for a strategic rapprochement between the United States and Iran. After 9/11, Iran not only denounced the attacks and cooperated with the United States in Afghanistan, but also offered to negotiate a comprehensive resolution of differences with no preconditions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 23, 2013
Accession Number
ADA587314

Entities

People

  • Daniel A. Mehochko

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Department Of State
  • Foreign Policy
  • Governments
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Treaties
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies