“Smart Power” in the American Think Tanks’ Approach to the Nuclear Activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran

In the last decade, the concept of “smart power” was invented to guide the US diplomacy system so that the US could have a more assuring achievement process to its goals by using its national and international power capabilities. The concept of “Smart Power” was introduced after the formation of the concept of soft power by Joseph Nye, which refers to the simultaneous application of managed soft power and hard power. The concept of smart power for operationalization requires a variety of strategies designed by the US strategists and decision-making institutions. The question of this article is about the position of smart power in the US foreign policy toward Iran. It seems that with the coming of the Obama administration in the United States, the project of the smart power was operationalized by the diplomatic apparatus of the country, whose obvious example can be seen in the context of the kind of US confrontation with Iran’s nuclear program. With the use of pressure and negotiation strategy, the project pursues the gradual reduction of the nuclear capabilities and the rollback of Iran’s nuclear program. The authors believe that in case of success, this process can be generalized and spread to other areas of conflict and put America at an aggressive stand.