IRAN and AMERICA - The complex relationship is not always what it seems?

IRAN and AMERICA, the complex relationship is not always what it seems?


The relationship between America and Iran is very complex and at times you hear alot of over hype on both sides. Yet this over hype applies to decades of so-called tension and mutual loathing. However, do both nations really hate each other or are quotes taken out of context or do they have cultural meanings? Or do both nations use each other in order to salvage domestic support at home? So what is the real relationship?

If we focus on economics then it is abundantly clear that America does enforce a strict economic internal blockade on this nation. Also, America does prop up Saudi Arabia but does this mean that this is directed solely at Iran? After all, Israel is also alarmed by America`s constant supply of high tech military arms to Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this issue is very complex and it might just apply to America`s self interests.

Yet when we look at foreign affairs then we see a different relationship because both nations have often helped each other in recent times. For example during the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo respectively, America gave tacit approval to Iran to break the military arms embargo. Therefore, Christians were massacred in both wars by a joint American-Iranian policy aimed at creating Islamic states in the Balkans.

If we turn the clock even further back, then even under the late Ayatollah Khomeini we see strange dealings. For example Oliver North was involved in the Iran-Contra affair, whereby Iran was involved in supporting the Contras in Nicaragua, via American economic support and dealings. Therefore, elements within the American administration were adopting a different policy.

Now if we forward the clock to more recent times then the same situation happens again. For example, when America attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan they allied themselves with the Northern Alliance. The Northern Alliance in turn was supported by both the Russian Federation and Iran. More astonishing was the fact that Iran gave America secret information about the Taliban, after all, the Taliban hated Shia Muslims. So both nations, just like the Balkans, had a shared and vested interest.

If we also focus on Iraq then a similar linkage emerges once more. Because Iran also gave covert support to America via knowledge they had obtained during the Iran-Iraq war. Also, Iran did little to prevent this conflict because they hated Saddam Hussein and his secular regime. Therefore, was the trade off an Islamic state? Because once the secular government had been defeated, then America installed Sharia Islamic Law which in turn persecuted the Christian community.

Given all this, then what is the truth behind the "veil?" Do both nations share similar aims and objectives? If they don`t, then how do you account for past dealings between both nations? This issue needs to be debated openly because nothing appears to make sense when it comes to the relationship between America and Iran.

Lee Jay Walker Dip BA MA