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Obama, McCain take different approaches to addressing relations with Iran
By Jamie Munks
Posted: 9/9/08, 11:20 PM EST Section: News
In the mind of Syracuse University professor Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Iran needs to be a critical issue in this year's presidential race.
"Iran has become the Bermuda Triangle of successive U.S. administrations," said Boroujerdi, an Iranian-American who has lived in the United States for 30 years and who now directs the SU Middle Eastern Studies program.
Relations between Iran and the U.S. have been tense for decades with events such as the Iran hostage crisis, the Iran-Contra affair and the Iran-Iraq War. Tensions between the countries have worsened in recent years as President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have clashed over nuclear policies and differing ideologies.
The current nuclear issue stems from a different understanding of the United Nations' Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which says a country has a right to create nuclear power for civil but not military uses.
Iran says it is within its rights, as outlined by the treaty. The U.N. Security Council, of which the U.S. is a member, has expressed concern because Iran hid a nuclear program for years. The worry is that Iran may be enriching uranium to a degree that could create a nuclear explosion.
Boroujerdi said that U.S. politics elsewhere in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, are influencing both Iran's perceptions of the United States and Iran's status as a powerful nation in the Middle East.
"By toppling Saddam (Hussein), the U.S. has inadvertently strengthened Iran's position in the region," Boroujerdi said. "Iran has emerged as the regional power of the Persian Gulf."
The two presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), are trying to avoid following the pattern of previous administrations by conveying strong Iran policies in their campaigns.
Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, has said he would consider sitting down with the Iranian president and is seeking engagement through something he calls "aggressive diplomacy."
"Iran has become the Bermuda Triangle of successive U.S. administrations," said Boroujerdi, an Iranian-American who has lived in the United States for 30 years and who now directs the SU Middle Eastern Studies program.
Relations between Iran and the U.S. have been tense for decades with events such as the Iran hostage crisis, the Iran-Contra affair and the Iran-Iraq War. Tensions between the countries have worsened in recent years as President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have clashed over nuclear policies and differing ideologies.
The current nuclear issue stems from a different understanding of the United Nations' Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which says a country has a right to create nuclear power for civil but not military uses.
Iran says it is within its rights, as outlined by the treaty. The U.N. Security Council, of which the U.S. is a member, has expressed concern because Iran hid a nuclear program for years. The worry is that Iran may be enriching uranium to a degree that could create a nuclear explosion.
Boroujerdi said that U.S. politics elsewhere in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, are influencing both Iran's perceptions of the United States and Iran's status as a powerful nation in the Middle East.
"By toppling Saddam (Hussein), the U.S. has inadvertently strengthened Iran's position in the region," Boroujerdi said. "Iran has emerged as the regional power of the Persian Gulf."
The two presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), are trying to avoid following the pattern of previous administrations by conveying strong Iran policies in their campaigns.
Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, has said he would consider sitting down with the Iranian president and is seeking engagement through something he calls "aggressive diplomacy."
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