The minimum you must know


This writer doesn't believe that Iran cares about sanctions relief as much as NATO countries seem to believe, because the country has become internally successful without fully integrating the population globally. Iran is benefitting from the current NATO attitude, because it's forcing the Iranian people to innovate successfully of necessity that wouldn't otherwise exist. The country is advancing faster than almost any other as a result. But sanctions are very important metaphorically. (Sanctions relief can represent an improving or even great attitude.) So this article treats economic negotiations as important even though they may only be symbolically to Iran.


Iran knows how to deter better than most countries. NATO countries view Iran as formidable and unpredictable. But Iran can't resist making a phenomenal consistent effort for peace. The sensitive side to the Iranian government and people is often visible in the government's communication strategy. Iran cares deeply about peace with ALL other countries.


Iran has strived for great relations globally for decades with rhetorical and diplomatic outreach. Iran has used government media appearances to successfully improve relations with rival Saudi Arabia, for instance, which brought peace and calm to Yemen recently. Iranian officials have also participated in perhaps a hundred peace talks regionally. For instance, Iran orchestrated a real and lasting peace between Iran's friendly neighbor Syria and their "rival" country Turkey. (This represented a tremendous diplomatic accomplishment for the entire region, because Iran and NATO were essentially negotiating peace with each other through intermediary countries.) Iran is well known to keep its word (even when other countries aren't as reliable). Iran also has a reputation at the United Nations for integrity. Therefore, the country is usually invited to peace talks by other countries in need of helpful diplomacy.


The Supreme Leader of Iran Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei created a peaceful burgeoning liberal democracy in his country. It's modeled after the ones in Europe and the United States. There is a parliamentary voting system very similar to the British one. Although he has final say, the democracy has become an excellent system that Iran uses to select the entire rest of the government. It gives the population the opportunity to choose all of their own public servants and policies. The democratic system has also taught the population how to integrate into and work in other democratic ones.


Although the Iranian and United States governments are far from entering into alliance, the truth is that they easily could. They share the same values and have a similar desire for peace. The Iranian government repeatedly says that it cares about "peace, freedom and justice." These are precisely the same values the Biden-Harris administration has extolled in public presentations. And the Iranian government created the same peace, freedom and justice that's enjoyed throughout the United States. There is consequently a tremendous opportunity for mutual understanding and lasting peace between the great nations.


The Iranian government also fully supports minority rights, which are important to the Biden administration in evaluating U.S. - Iranian relations. Iran has more progressive minority rights than anywhere else in the region. Women wear whatever they want. And people of various ethnicities enjoy full and equal rights, and participate equally in industry and government. There was a Jewish member of congress, for instance. There is a burgeoning Jewish population in Tehran.


Islam obviously predominates in Iran. The Iranian government therefore has to convince the population there to participate in democracy by calling it "Islamic." (Otherwise they would not.) This raised eyebrows in Israel but shouldn't because Islam is a religion named for "peace." The Iranian government encourages peaceful participation in democracy by describing it this way.


Most democratically elected governments these days describe democracy theologically. Iran is far from alone in this regard. The United States does the same thing in distinguishing church from state but welcoming each new leader with a hand on a Christian Bible anyway. There's even a Christian religious motto in the United States found equivalently in Islamic religious texts and governments. The Israeli government of course declares that its Jewish. The tradition of democracy being theological is therefore essentially the same in the United States, Israel and Iran (though the predominating religion varies between them).

Democracy wasn't easily achieved in Iran because of challenges from neighboring states. Just imagine attempting to hold successful elections near Iraq and Afghanistan, which were want of peace for decades. It's a miracle and credit to the Iranian government that there's voting in the country after the country absorbed their share of the exodus of armed gangs from Iraq.


(Deterrence sometimes creates an unsavory image that Israel and Iran have for one another. They even deny the truth of each other's democracies. To some extent this is beyond either country’s control because the perception can be influenced by third party "proxy" actors and when there are third party skirmishes. Iran and Israel attribute to one another unpredictable behavior and unpleasantness that neither really wants or initiates. Misunderstandings sometimes result. Eventually the countries will realize they share the same great values, governing systems and desire to help the populations in the area.)


The Obama-Biden administration was culturally sensitive and desirous of peace. They understood that Islam is a religion of peace. They also understood that the Iranian government is loved by many people. The Obama-Biden administration also felt that the Islamic Iranian government was attempting to do something peaceful and wonderful for their people. They wanted Iran to prosper to help stem the flow or Iraqi refugees into Europe. They therefore negotiated an ending of the isolating sanctions on Iran in a peace deal.

President Obama understood that Muslims may have had nothing whatsoever to do with the events of September 2001, and was open to peace with all Islamic nations. The Obama-Biden administration's peace deal with Iran was called The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It was agreed to by Iran. The peace agreement gave the Obama-Biden administration visibility into Iran's energy production. Iran promised to limit certain aspects of their behavior. President Obama lifted sanctions as a result. President Obama probably felt that Iran would quickly develop successful diplomatic relations with all other countries once given the opportunity. He probably expected this to include improving relations between Iran and Israel. But Iran didn't improve relations with Israel. And the arrangement was vehemently objected to by the government and population there instead.


JCPOA probably would have been permanently successful if Israel had supported the arrangement. But it was only successful for a short time during the Obama-Biden years. Israel was able to undermine the deal during the subsequent Trump-Pence U.S. presidential administration. JCPOA was met with tremendous enthusiasm in Iran and the United States, when it was an active arrangement. People in both countries looked forward to the Iranian population participating openly and freely in the global economy. However, the deal eventually fell apart without Israel's support.


This is because the Trump-Pence administration only developed respect and appreciation for Muslim countries during their time in office. Initially they implemented a Muslim travel ban that was only several years later replaced with a very sensitive and thoughtful approach to Islam and the region.


The Trump-Pence administration had a very different perspective on U.S. relations with Iran than the Obama-Biden administration had. They preferred the Jewish Israeli perspective, and were persuaded by Iran's deterrence. They hoped that Iran might sign an improved peace deal with Israel. The Trump-Pence administration therefore worked with Israel to renegotiate JCPOA with Iran. They abruptly halted U.S. participation in JCPOA as a negotiating tactic, hoping Iran would stop deterring Israel. But Iran didn’t, and felt the United States should keep its word and return to the original agreement anyway. Iran felt that the prior negotiations should remain sacrosanct, and that any subsequent negotiations be held under an additional agreement. Iran wanted the United States to honor JCPOA regardless of its relationship with Israel.


Iran stayed entirely true to their word and fully respected JCPOA. Iran has a perfect record of reliability in peace negotiations and deals. The Iranian government keeps it's word even when other countries don't do the same. But the United States didn't keep its word to Iran. Iran expressed disdain for the entire matter, and started refusing to even interact with the Trump-Pence administration (as far as the public is aware). The Trump-Pence administration's efforts to create additional terms for the peace agreement were therefore unsuccessful. Iran wouldn't hear them out, and simply insisted that the United States stay true to its prior commitments. Now the Biden-Harris administration is considering honoring the original commitment, and returning the United States to the peace treaty once again

President of Iran

Ebrahim Raisi

September 2022

Joe Biden was Vice President when the original JCPOA agreement was reached. Now that he's President, he seems inclined to return Iran to the deal. (After all, it was his deal in the first place!) The Biden-Harris administration may therefore lift sanctions on Iran again. The decision is actively being considered. To make the deal last longer, they may seek and receive U.S. Congress support this time, which could make a deal much more durable, because it won't be subject to renegotiation by each subsequent presidential administration. (This writer believes U.S. media may support the possibility, too.) Presidential and congressional support would certainly be very welcomed by the Iranian government. However, Israel continues to have significant influence. Jewish Americans who support Israel have wealthy government lobbying organizations. Jews also directly participate in the U.S. government. Israel might therefore be able to interfere with the deal again if there isn't a simultaneous improvement in Iranian - Israeli relations.


Iran may secure U.S. Presidential and majority U.S. congressional support for sanctions relief in coming years. Countries that are generous towards one another are far more successful than ones that are not. And both the U.S. and Iranian governments understand that positive attitudes are more than just the right thing to do. They're in the interest of the populations of both countries.


This writer believes it's time for the United States to stop attributing internals issues to countries that have nothing to do with them. The Iranian community has always been at peace within the United States. The United States in turn hopes Iran will soften its stance in the region and rhetoric towards Israel, and make the Abraham Declaration. Iran and Israel are not patterning enough "peace" and "love" to each other yet - something that could happen at any time. Palestinians and Jews are on the verge of a lasting peace agreement. It's a very exciting time in their diplomacy as a result. This writer wishes Iran would take credit for their improving relations by hosting successful peace talks in Tehran. (That would create tremendous credibility for Iran globally.)


The Palestinian people care deeply about peace and want integration with all other populations including within Israel. They want to be around more great people like themselves. Palestinians requested that all other countries sign the same Abraham declaration with them. This can be done at any time with a simple press release.

Islam was named for “peace." Any opportunity for peace between all countries should be more than just joyously welcomed. Let's celebrate and cherish peace globally.