Caspian Report - Issue 06 - Winter 2014

The tension between the West and Iran
reached its peak during Ahmadinejad’s presidency.
With harsh statements against the
US and Israel, Ahmadinejad at various points
brought the parties to the brink of war.
Relations between Iran and the West
significantly deteriorated as a result
of the 1979 Iran Islam revolution
and the hostage crisis, but things got
worse as Iran developed its nuclear
programme. The West regarded
Iran as a threat to the region, and
tried to persuade it to abandon its
nuclear operations. However, Iran
has consistently claimed that its
nuclear operations are being carried
out for peaceful means. The tension
between the West and Iran reached
its peak during Ahmadinejad’s presidency.
With harsh statements against
the US and Israel, Ahmadinejad at
various points brought the parties
to the brink of war. Bilateral tensions
were reduced and harsh statements
were replaced with mutual goodwill
gestures when Hasan Rouhani
was elected as the new president in
August 2013. As a result, a 6-month
interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program
has been signed between Iran
and the G5+1 countries in Geneva.
According to the deal, Iran will suspend
its nuclear programme to a
significant extent, dispose of its 20%
enriched uranium, resume uranium
enrichment activities only at a rate
OBAMA
OPPOSES
NUCLEAR
ARMAMENT,
AND IS
CONCERNED
ABOUT A
POSSIBLE
ARMS RACE IN
THE REGION IF
IRAN CREATES
A REGIONAL
SECURITY
DILEMMA BY
ACQUIRING
NUCLEAR
WEAPONS.
of 5%. In return, the international
community will reduce the sanctions
around $7 billion. If the parties
do not fulfil their obligations within
6 months, an extension of 6 months
will be granted.
What has pushed the parties to reach
a deal after years of tensions
BENEFITS OF THE DEAL FOR THE
WEST, PARTICULARLY THE US
• Obama opposes nuclear armament,
and is concerned about a possible
arms race in the region if Iran creates
a regional security dilemma by
acquiring nuclear weapons.
• Economic costs for the US as a result
of operations in Afghanistan and
Iraq are high, and 2008 world economic
crisis also caused trouble for
the US economy. Thus, the US does
not want another war. Moreover,
Iran is very different from Iraq, and
a possible war with Iran would not
only be a major blow for the US economy
but would also cause instability
in the region. In this case, the US is
choosing peace over war.
115
CASPIAN REPORT, WINTER 2014