An Analysis of Trump Administration's Approach towards the Nuclear Issue of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M Sc. of political sciences, University of Isfahan

2 Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Isfahan

Abstract

Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program is a major issue in Trump's foreign and security policy in the West Asia (the Middle East). Although it was thought that the West's attitude towards the nuclear agreement of 5+1 countries’ Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would undermine Washington's Iran-phobia policy, after Trump's entrance into the White House and his offensive measures as well as those of his cabinet members, Iran's nuclear program was again considered seriously in Washington's agenda. Hence, the main question of this study relates to the approach that Trump’s administration has taken towards the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear issue. In response, we hypothesize that Trump and US officials have exaggerated Iran's peaceful nuclear program to claim that it is a threat for the region and for the whole world security, resorting to the premise that Iran is using it for the construction of nuclear bombs. Making use of threatful and coercive instruments, America tries to stop the growing missile capabilities and regional influence of Iran as its main Middle East goal and policy. This, in turn, can shape regional equations and order in line with the goals and interests of Washington and its regional allies and weaken Iran's growing power and influence in the region. The findings of the study indicate that Trump administration's policy of achieving its short-term goals, such as the economic-political collapse of Iran in a year, or bringing Tehran to the negotiating table through US provisions, as a result of maximum economic sanctions and pressure, has faced failure. In this research qualitative analysis method was used for data analysis.

Keywords


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Volume 12, Issue 43
September 2019
Pages 75-113
  • Receive Date: 11 July 2019
  • Revise Date: 16 October 2019
  • Accept Date: 01 December 2019
  • Publish Date: 23 August 2019