U.S.-Iranian Relations: From Wishful Thinking to Cautious Optimism

No, neither Apple nor Amazon is about to start doing business in Iran, and there is no immediate prospect for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington. Nevertheless, there is a sense of cautious optimism about U.S.-Iranian relations in Iran’s state-censored media.

• October 2: Technocratic Donya-ye Eqtesad emphasized that the recent registration of Apple and Amazon as businesses in Iran, which received significant attention after being revealed in the Official Gazette of Iran, was the work of a crafty businessperson hoping to represent the companies in Iran in the future. The registration was neither at the behest of the two companies nor a sign of the U.S. technology giants starting operations in Iran.
• October 3: In an interview with reformist Aftab-e Yazd, Abd al-Reza Faraji-Rad, Iran’s former ambassador to Norway and Hungary, expressed cautious optimism about the future of U.S.-Iranian relations.
  • Commenting on Rodger Shanahan’s October 1 article in The National Interest defending U.S. diplomacy with Iran, Faraji-Rad said: “Clearly, talks between the Americans and Iranians but also negotiations with the Europeans, which were interrupted, are taking place. By taking a look at domestic politics in the United States,” the administration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “is under pressure from the House of Representatives, the Senate, and influential individuals in U.S. foreign policy. Therefore, the policy currently adopted by the Americans is one of continuing negotiations, reaching partial agreements, and preserving the status quo … Iran continuing uranium enrichment at the 60% level is perceived as a win for the Americans, and there really is no need for publicizing the talks and negotiations, which only risks further complicating the situation … The Americans are surely not looking for trouble before the election. Should the agreements” between Tehran and Washington “be satisfactory and should the Americans and their regional allies Saudi Arabia and Israel feel safe, they will remain committed to continuing negotiations. However, a great deed,” or a grand bargain between the United States and Iran, “being done is most unlikely prior to the” 2024 U.S. presidential election. Faraji-Rad concluded: “Due to the polarized atmosphere in the United States, the Americans are preventing the publicization of the negotiations and talks. Therefore, if we do not see news coverage of the subject, it does not necessarily mean the negotiations have ceased or are unproductive.”

The views represented herein are the author's or speaker's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of AGSI, its staff, or its board of directors.