The US-Iran Relationships - Essay Example

However, there have been many arguments suggesting that the status quo in Iran remains despite the change in political leadership. Indeed, many leaders assert that since the inauguration of President Hassan Rouhani just a few months ago, we cannot establish any substantial difference between the presidency of Hassan Rouhani and that of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The new Iran has less presence of the morality police, which depicts minimal social restrictions (Majd, 1). However, Iranians are still wary of the harsh situation in the country led by President Hassan Rouhani. As such, America should not trust President Hassan Rouhani and pursue a more amicable relationship with Iran but should be very wary of any overtures from Iran. Indeed, there are still questions as to whether Iranians will allow him to deliver on his campaign promises that entail better relations with Western nations.

There is no certainty that he will fix the economy without a rapid rapprochement with the Western nations (Majd, 1). Only a few Iranians in the Islamic Republic believe in the new president. As such, with less political support, America should not rely on the promises of trust President Hassan Rouhani. Nevertheless, Rouhani’s speeches have been challenging the status quo where he urges the executive, political class, and citizens to engage in reasonable behavior (Majd, 1). As a result, many Iranians consider him as a leader they should support because he represents their desires. However, his administration still believes that it is not ready to mend fences with the West to forget their hostility (Majd, 1). As a result, America should not consider trusting President Hassan Rouhani for the time being.

On the other hand, Rouhani has made sudden openness to compromise on its nuclear program by participating in negotiations with the P5+1 countries which include the United States (Majd, 1). He is also on a mission to convince everybody that the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not seeking to control a nuclear arsenal (Goldberg, 1). However, America should understand that Iran is only doing this to ease the restrictions spelled on the country since they are adversely affecting the economy of Iran (Goldberg, 1). Moreover, Iran and its political leaders have a resounding commitment to Islamic terror groups like Hezbollah and Iranian-backed groups, which destabilize Iran and attacks Americans directly (Brown, 1). This confirms that the new presidency does not diffuse the hostility between Iran and the West. As such, it is irrelevant for America to believe in Rouhani.

Notably, Obama made a fifteen minutes call to Rouhani for the first time in Iranian history. This call derived variant responses with some regimes applauding it. However, Iran’s Supreme Leader disregarded the call as an appropriate form of diplomacy. Indeed, even Rouhani later asserted that the White House had requested the call five times and so he pitied them and decided to take it while en route to the airport. This manifests ignorance and a lack of commitment to the Iranian relationship with America and hence America should not trust the new Iranian President. Indeed, Rouhani is yet to indicate that Iran will reverse its commitment to the nuclear program and has confirmed that the country will not suspend uranium enrichment (Goldberg, 1). Actually, after negotiating a suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment with the European Union, Rouhani used trickery to increase its number of assembled centrifuges. This relates to the fact that acquiring and possessing a nuclear arsenal is still the main interest of any Iran ruler (Goldberg, 1).

Moreover, Rouhani is answerable to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is anti-Israel and anti-American (Brown, 1). Even Rouhani identifies with these sentiments. With this development, America should not trust Rouhani and strive for a more amicable relationship but should be wary of any overtures from Iran. In addition, there have been many unsuccessful past engagement efforts between America and Iran where the U.S. failed to manifest an act of goodwill to Iran. Notably, Iran still remembers these incidents and has an all-time low in trust in the United States. As such, Iran is not ready to change its perception of America. As such, the U.S. should be wary of this before bestowing any trust on Rouhani. Indeed, America should test Iran with urgency, limit the negotiations, and avoid lifting the sanctions prematurely (Goldberg, 1).