IRAN AMERICA DIPLOMACY Because there are no formal diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America instead of exchanging ambassadors, Iran maintains an interests section at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., while the United States has maintained a corresponding interests section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. Since December 2011, the United States has also maintained a virtual embassy online. Relations between the two nations began in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Initially, while Iran was very wary of British and Russian colonial interests during the Great Game, the United States was seen as a more trustworthy Western power, and the Americans Arthur Millspaugh and Morgan Shuster were even appointed treasurers-general by the Shahs of the time. During World War II, Iran was invaded by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, both US allies, but relations continued to be positive after the war until the later years of the government of Mohammad Mossadeq, who was overthrown by a coup organized by MI6 and aided by the Central Intelligence Agency. This was followed by an era of very close alliance between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavis regime and the U.S. government, which was in turn followed by a dramatic reversal and disagreement between the two countries after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Opinions differ over what has caused the cooling in relations. Iranian explanations include everything from the natural and unavoidable conflict between the Islamic Revolution on the one hand, and perceived American arrogance and desire for global hegemony on the other. Other explanations include the Iranian governments need for an external bogeyman to furnish a pretext for domestic repression against pro-democratic forces and to bind the government to its loyal constituency. Since 1995, the United States has had an embargo on trade with Iran. According to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, 5% of Americans view Iranian influence positively, with 87% expressing a negative view, the most unfavorable perception of Iran in the world. On the other side, research have shown that most of Iranians have positive attitudes towards American people.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 07:50:56 +0000
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