US Policy Toward the Nuclear Program in Iran: A Holistic Examination
Vesal Razavimaleki spent the 2024 summer participating in a Jeremiah Sullivan Fellowship for Securities Internships. He spent the summer in Washington, DC and wants to share some highlights. He will also talk about how he found and applied for this particular securities internship.
Abstract:
Over the last two decades, nuclear weapons have dominated the discourse on US-Iran relations. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015, was heralded as a diplomatic triumph aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. However, perceived shortcomings in the agreement prompted the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and implementation of a comprehensive “maximum pressure” sanctions regime to force the Islamic regime’s hand to re-negotiate a new nuclear deal. This same desire, post withdrawal, to enter a new nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran, has led the Biden administration to issue various sanctions waivers to coax the regime into negotiations. This talk will evaluate the impacts of the JCPOA, the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, and the Biden administration’s appeasement of the Islamic Republic and propose a theoretical framework for how future US administrations can prevent nuclearization in Iran.
