By DYLAN DEMARTINO
Staff Writer
President Hassan Rouhani recently spoke at the U.N. General Assembly.
(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia)
At one point, the United States considered Iran to be a crucial area of interest. The United States was very interested in Iran’s economic and military development. American decision makers regarded it as a pillar of American regional security in the Middle East. Americans born in the past 30 years, however, tend to think of the Iranian government as an oppressive regime working to obstruct America’s goals of peace in the Middle East (or at least American dominance of the region, if you are inclined to be cynical).
Iran’s attempts to develop nuclear technology and its aggressive rhetoric towards Israel have prompted American officials to adopt increasingly severe economic sanctions. These sanctions have naturally made it almost impossible for Iran to function economically in the modern global economy without a considerable amount of assistance from nations and institutions interested in skirting the sanctions.
The political system in Iran technically has a presidential election. Each candidate is vetted by his supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, however, making this democratic exercise limited in practice. In the recent election, the comparatively reformist Hassan Rouhani triumphed. Reasonable skepticism remained after his election as to whether or not Iran would concede to American and Western demands on its policy regarding nuclear development.
Fast forward a few months and we are at the annual United Nations General Assembly, practically the only international venue for Iran to address America diplomatically. The former Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, known for denying the Holocaust, famously used this opportunity to provoke the United States and its allies, particularly Israel.
The experience this time around appeared to be different, with Rouhani suggesting that Iran would be more interested in diplomatic exchanges with the West and engaging in a short discussion with President Obama, the first exchange among heads of state for the two countries in 30 years. Despite such an attitude, it is unlikely that much diplomatic progress will be made between Iran and the West.
Just because someone less extreme than Amadenijad is occupying the frontman role for the same regime ruled by Khamenei and his Republican Guard Corps, does not mean that Iran will abandon its ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons or cast aside its hostility towards the United States and its international interests.
Khamenei tacitly approved the Rouhani’s call for nuclear negotiations with the United States. There were caveats, however, as Khamenei seemed displeased with the general tenor of Rouhani’s overture to President Obama, and a representative from the influential Republican Guards. He called the exchange a “ tactical mistake.” Why would taking the first step towards diplomatic resolution be a tactical mistake if Iran is serious about improving relations with the West?
The 30 years of animosity between Iran and the United States will not be simply laid to rest by a short conversation between Rouhani and Obama. The two nations have indirectly engaged each other over the past 30 years in Iraq, with American support for Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war and Iranian encouragement of a Shia insurgency during the American occupation of Iraq.
Furthermore, Iran has labored extensively to assist Bashar Hafez al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War. Iran has allegedly sent money, weapons, militia trainers and its Hezbollah toadies to aid Assad in the brutal suppression of his people. Assad has been accused of violating international law during this conflict by discharging chemical weapons against Syrian rebels. This connection is problematic because the humanitarian crisis caused by this war threatens American allies in the region like Turkey and could cause instability in Jordan and Lebanon.
The Iranian government is making token gestures to the United States after chafing under economic sanctions regarding its shady nuclear ambitions, but the actions of its government and leaders suggest that it will continue to challenge the United States.
“We are skeptical of Americans and have no trust in them at all,” Ali Khamenei declared on his official website after the United Nations General Assembly. “The American government is untrustworthy, arrogant, illogical and a promise-breaker. It’s a government captured by the international Zionism network.”
Given the amount of times in that short statement that Khameni called the United States untrustworthy, it is quite unlikely that after all of the difficulties experienced by the Iranian government from economic isolation, to espionage, to refusal of most nations to help it develop scientific reasons that it would suddenly take a knee and negotiate toe-to-toe with the United States. A reform-minded president, conscious of his country’s horrendous reputation in the West, can only accomplish so much if the power brokers of his regime refuse to give up the goal of nuclear development.
Dylan Demartino, FCRH ’14, is a history and Middle East studies double major from Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.
