Since the 1980s, Iran has been ready to negotiate with the United States on the condition that each side knew clearly the conduct of the other side, but the United States, in return, has cheated. In 1989, Bush Sr. asked Iran to help free Western hostages in Lebanon, to which Iran complied, but in return, the US progressively put pressure on Iran.
The same thing occurred in the year 2001 when Iran supported the US in Afghanistan by offering essential information about the Taliban. Nevertheless, the US and Iran have cooperated in various arenas of diplomacy, international relations, and business. Still, in 2002, President George W. Bush put Iran in the evil Axis, which cemented Tehran’s belief that the US would never be able to be relied upon.
Despite the fact Iran has always maintained it has not developed nuclear weapons, it was a signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal, which the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran has not violated at any time. However, similar to what was seen with the same country in the previous instance, the U.S. pulled out of the agreement during Trump’s presidency and put in place a ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on North Korea: Saddam Hussein.
Yemen, Syria, and Libya, the wars in all of these countries have been cooperation between the United States of America and Saudi Arabia. Washington never flinched at Saudi Arabia’s support of the extreme madrassas funding terrorism and the country’s support of jihadist groups, which continue to promote global terrorism. Not even the gruesome murder of a Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, changed the direction of the U. S. policy towards the kingdom.
Sadly, the strategic partnership of the US with Saudi Arabia had been a centerpiece of Washington’s Middle East policy for many years, and the effects have been disastrous. Regime change operation in Yemen backed by the United States has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, yet Washington remains an arms and political support provider to Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, Trump had focused on Iran, which resulted in profound sanctions that only deepened the suffering of regular people in Iran, while the US provided Saudi Arabia impunity for the severe violations of human rights.
The US cannot continue to engage in cycles of violence as is usually the norm. Still, we must honor its commitments and obligations, especially in consideration of the nuclear deal, in order to bring peace and stability to the region. Only thus can it seek to respond to rational concerns on Iranian interventionism without facilitating Saudi’s erratic and harmful conduct.
