The relationship between Iran and the US has been tense since for many years. Over time, certain events and policies towards Iran have shaped the views of the United States. In the early 1950s the US was involved in staging a coup in order to bring power back to the Sha, but this lead to a revolt against the Sha, and in 1979 Iran was formed into an Islamic Republic. Since then the way the United States is involved in Iranian affairs has changed. Since 1979, the relationship between Iran and the United States has been tense. In the early 2000s there were concerns over Iran's capabilities to enrich uranium. Also during this time Mahmoud Amadinejad was elected president in 2005 and he has been an outspoken critic of the West. Then a series of tougher sanctions and more extreme words, sanctions were put in place, but during all of this Iran and the US tried to improve the relationship by talking diplomatically. So thus creating two sides of this issue with Iran's Nuclear Program. One side is in favor of the US strengthening economic sanctions and becoming tougher on Iran. Or support more talks with Iran and the US. Then in 2009, President Amadinejad was re-elected as president and this caused many riots and protests in Iran. The United States was reluctant to become too involved in Iranian issues such as this, but this hesitation angered some people who wanted the US to be bolder and show more criticism towards Iran and how Iran was acting towards the protests.
These issues created polarizing sides and in order to put an end to this there must be a willingness to look ahead. The US and Iran must now lay the foundation and then from there build the relationship with trust and respect. In order for this to become successful there must be cooperation and action on both sides. If there is no cooperation then there will not be any action or progress.
Pictures are from the following websites:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/graphics/flags/large/us-lgflag.gif
I agree with your theory that the United States and Iran need to start to cooperate on certain issues. My question is, "What issues should the United States and Iran start to talk about?" One of the few things that the United States and Iran have in common now is oil. Iran can produce a good amount of Oil and the United States has the largest intake of Oil in the world. In a world that is trying to go Green and reduce the dependence on foreign Oil, couldn't these new Green ideal hurt United States and Iranian Relations? I'm sure they have more than just Oil to cooperate on, but I am not sure if they would be willing to talk about such issues as Nuclear Weapons or Democracy.
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