Time To Get Tough On Tehran Summary

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In “Time to Get Tough on Tehran,” Eliot Cohen, Eric Edelman, and Ray Takeyh discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its impact on the United States’ future Iran policy. After strikingly denouncing the JCPOA for its recognition of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, its potential to make Iran’s rivals in its region to go nuclear, and its allowance of advanced centrifuges, the authors propose a new, more cohesive Iran policy for the United States that they contend will help squeeze Iran into making concessions on amendments to the JCPOA, and eventually, a new nuclear deal. Strategies included in the proposed policy include reducing chaos in the middle east by fighting ISIS through the use of small ethnic groups as proxies and …show more content…

One of the biggest issues that seems to offend Iran greatly is American involvement in the Middle East. For many years, the United States has been helping regional allies to enhance their national security through {arms trade and military bases}. Iran, however, feels threatened by the American presence in the region. The Iranian goals of spreading Iranian-Islamic culture and increasing relations with neighboring countries are undoubtedly hindered by the United States’ close relationship with several countries in the region. Cohen, Edelman, and Takeyh argue that “the United States should help the Gulf state not only as they battle Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, but also as they deal with...protecting themselves against Iran’s efforts to undermine their internal security, defending their economic infrastructure, and preventing Iran from interdicting their energy exports along key transit routes.” {Increasing the scope of the relationship with regional allies is likely to threaten Iran even further, leading them back to their initial motivations for their nuclear program and decreasing their likelihood to negotiate.} By engaging further with Iran, Iranian leaders will feel even more threatened, not submissive, because they want to ensure their national security before engaging with the

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