How did the US-Iran relationship arrive at its current state? Joseph Braude talks to former Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama White House officials, about recent efforts at diplomacy with the Iranian regime.
The United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran have been at loggerheads since 1979, when Iranian revolutionaries held 59 Americans hostage for 444 days. Since that time, successive US presidents have been aware that Iran was pursuing a program to develop nuclear power, and probably nuclear weapons. After September 11, 2001, Iran’s nuclear aspirations took on added urgency for the administration of President George W. Bush, who singled out Iran among three countries which he considered to be the worst global threats in his “Axis of Evil” speech.
European leaders, meanwhile, had similar concerns about Iran. They were also deeply engaged with Iran commercially and reluctant to press Iran too hard. In August 2002, attitudes changed sharply with the discovery that Iran was building two underground facilities for use in a possible nuclear weapons program. Juan Zarate was a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism during the George W. Bush administration.
“I think the 2002 revelation at Natanz,” says Zarate, “as well as the later revelation of the Qom secret facility under the Obama administration were really key lodestars for the international community, leading to a conclusion that the Iranians were likely marching toward a nuclear weapons capability.”
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