Tensions between Iran and the United States are at an all-time high as the Pentagon announced the arrival of the second aircraft carrier from the Indian Ocean to the Middle East. This development comes just days after Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, ruled out during the Eid al-Fitr prayers speech in Tehran that “the nation’s stance remains unchanged.”
Relations between the two countries descended into turmoil after “Students Following the Imam’s Path” raided the U.S. embassy in 1979 and took the staff hostage, releasing them after 444 days of captivity as President Jimmy Carter’s term came to a close.
President Donald Trump revealed during an interview with Fox Business that he had sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Steve Witkoff said, “The letter roughly stated that I’m a president of peace, and that is what we want, and there is no reason for us to do this militarily.” After receiving the letter, Iran submitted a response within days via the Sultanate of Oman; the contents of the letter are yet to be disclosed. However, President Pezeshkian rejected any direct talk with Washington during a televised meeting with his cabinet. “Iran has always been engaged in indirect talks, and that is what the Supreme Leader encourages to continue,” he said. “We don’t avoid negotiations, but it’s the breach of promises that has caused us problems,” he added.
Relations between Iran and the U.S. began to heal after the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the nuclear deal, in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program and uranium enrichment in exchange for sanction relief. After the United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA, the Iranian Parliament chamber became a scene of representatives alighting the accord, marking the beginning of a dismal diplomatic future.
The U.S. aims to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and its strategic missile manufacturing programs. Iran has consistently stated that its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes and not military use. Supporting this position, Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations remarked on a post published on X that: “If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-à-vis any potential militarization of Iran’s nuclear program, such discussions may be subject to consideration. However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme to claim that what Obama failed to achieve has now been accomplished, such negotiations will never take place.”
Both the United States and Israel have proposed the bombardment of key nuclear facilities in Iran to eliminate its nuclear program. The U.S. military has deployed B-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean. Ayatollah Khamenei said during the Eid al-Fitr prayer, “They threaten to do harm; however, we are not certain that harm will be inflicted.. We do not think it is very likely that harm will be inflicted from outside. But if harm is done from outside, they will be hit hard.”
The United States has also demanded that Iran abolish its support for its proxies in the region. Following the October 7 attack, Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” suffered significant losses due to the destruction of its infrastructure and the assassination of its leaders. After Bashar al-Assad left Syria following the rapid-paced advances of opposition forces, Iran lost a substantial number of smuggling routes to transfer weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel stated that it would shut down Iranian commercial airliners departing for Beirut, as it claimed that they are used for transporting weapons. The Houthis in Yemen began disrupting cargo routes to Israel in an attempt to end the war in Gaza, and also attacked U.S. Navy ships with advanced warfare capabilities. The U.S. Navy says the Houthi fire power has been the heaviest its sailors have faced since World War II. The Houthis halted their attacks in the Red Sea after the ceasefire in Gaza but resumed them when Israel cut off aid to the Strip and began fighting Hamas again. The United States claims that Iran has shared its knowledge of manufacturing sophisticated drones and missiles with the Houthis.
In recent weeks, the United States has conducted near-daily airstrikes targeting Houthi positions and personnel. According to The Telegraph, Iran has begun to withdraw its troops from Yemen in order to avoid direct confrontation with the U.S. military, in case an Iranian soldier is killed. According to a senior Iranian official cited by The Telegraph, Iran is scaling down its support for its regional proxies to focus on direct threats from the U.S. “The view here is that the Houthis will not be able to survive and are living their final months or even days, so there is no point in keeping them on our list” he said.
Written by Mohammad Amin
