Abstract
That the mere appearance of respectful talks between Iran and the United States should inspire so much hopeful speculation is of course more evidence of just how dire and hopeless the relationship has been until now. Thirty-five years of mutual estrangement have conjured up some particularly noxious mythologies on both sides. But myths and false narratives do not exist in a vacuum; they are imagined and sustained by those whose self-interest and personal glory obliges them to insist on the continuation of hostility and distrust. Much of the farce and tragedy in US–Iran relations is, in the end, the fruits of a history bedeviled by too much hubris and too little reflective understanding.
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Notes
For instance, take Parsi’s description of Iran’s response to President Obama’s conciliatory message to the Iranian people on the occasion of Persian New Year in the spring of 2009: ‘Within a day, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave a speech in his hometown of Mashhad, directly addressing Obama’s New Year’s message. The fact that Khamenei himself gave the first response, and that he did it so quickly, was significant. By swiftly responding, he made it clear who has the final word on determining Iran’s positions and actions, while also setting the tone and approach toward the US He essentially shut down any debate in Iran on how to respond to Obama – Khamenei’s line on Obama and the US would be Iran’s only line’ (p. 64, emphasis added). If, as Parsi clearly states, ‘Khamenei’s line on Obama and the US would be Iran’s only line’, it begs the question as to why domestic politics should be much of a burden on Iran’s ability to reach a compromise.
References
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Abrahamian, E. (2008) A Modern History of Iran. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Parsi, T. (2008) Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
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Banai, H. The wages of enmity. Int Polit Rev 2, 3–10 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/ipr.2014.7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ipr.2014.7