The Role of Change in US Strategic Understanding of Its Approach to Iran's Nuclear Issue

 The nuclear case has been one of the most complicated issues in the foreign and domestic policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. One of the reasons for this complexity was the contradictory approach of the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran to the enjoyment of "enrichment rights" by member states. US official policy in this regard was based on "zero enrichment" and "suspension of enrichment activities", and Iran, instead, emphasized the "right to enrichment" under the NPT. A historical examination of the US approach to the nuclear case shows that the country has imposed heavy multilateral sanctions on the basis of its understanding that the Islamic Republic of Iran is withdrawing under the international pressures from its positions. But, the ineffectiveness of sanctions on social dissatisfaction and the change of political will of the Islamic Republic of Iran to withdraw its right to enrich and halt the growth of Iran's technical capability to enrich uranium has altered Washington's understanding of the Islamic Republic's behavioral logic in foreign policy. The shift in US strategic understanding led to the Obama administration's shift from "zero enrichment" to "limited enrichment", which played an important role in initiating the process of direct Iran-US negotiations in Oman in 2012.