The role of nuclear energy policies in Obama period US Iran relations

Abstract

The US Iranian tension, which started after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, reached its peak on August 14, 2002, when the National Council of Resistance of Iran was announced to the world that it was carrying out activities outside the control of Iran's International Atomic Energy Agency, and came to a dead end with September 11 attacks. After his election to presidency the discourse of a peaceful policy which Obama was expressing in contrast to military based policies of Bush administration led him to be criticized by both American and International public opinion. Obama, who took office in 2009, took steps to pursue peaceful relations with Iran, unlike his previous Bush administration. Ahmedinejad’s gratulation for Obama after he won the elections, and his signals which meant that negotiations could take place if the discussions were positive, were two significant steps towards working for solutions for the disputes between US and Iran. Obama's requests for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to be removed from the terrorist list, as well as Israeli-Palestinian peace, are indicative of his peaceful foreign policy.