In the past, relations between the US and Iran have been strained at best. The Iran-Iraq war did not help this. It was very clear which side the US took in that war. Although we claimed to be neutral, The US did everything in its power to assure that Iraq did not lose the war. Immediately following the Iran-Iraq war, US-Iranian relations were at a very dismal point. Both countries are at fault for the shaky relations, but I believe the US has shown time and time again, that their main focus is not to mend relations between the two countries. Many of the actions the US has taken against Iran are just plain shady. It is unclear to me what the true motive is behind all these actions. In this paper, I will trace the progression of US-Iranian relations following the Iran-Iraq war, mainly focusing on the Khatami era, but also on the Ahmadinejad era. I am very passionate about this subject, because I am half persian, and my father is an Iranian immigrant who came to the U.S. right before the Iranian revolution. I hope my passion will show in this paper, and you will thoroughly enjoy reading it.
The Iran-Iraq war was very detrimental to the US-Iranian relations. The U.S. carried out some very questionable actions during the war from the destruction of an Iranian jetliner in 1988, to their military support for Iraq, and the Iran-contra affair just to name a few. US-Iranian relations were stagnant following the Iran-Iraq war. However, in 1997 both countries were optimistic about future relations between the two. This optimism was sparked by the election of a new President, Mohammed Khatami. Iran’s new president represented a fresh perspective on US-Iran relations. Khatami was a reformist, different from the Islamic leaders that had ruled the country in past years. He hoped to bring about a slew of reforms, focusing on a civil society, the rule of law, and improvement of social rights, especially for women. However, these reforms would not be easy to accomplish, due to...