People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research جامعة 8 ماي 5491 قالمة University of 8 May 1945 / GUELMA كلية اﻵداب واللغات Faculty of Letters and Languages قسم اﻵداب واللغة اﻻنجليزية Department of Letters and English language Option: Civilization The U.S. Nuclear Disarmament Policy Imposed towards Iran during Obama’s Presidency. A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Letters and English Language in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master Degree of Philosophy in Anglophone Language, Literature and Civilizations Submitted by Supervisor: LABROUKI Yaakoub Mrs. BARES Meryem Board of Examiners Chairwoman: Mrs. ZIYAYA Rima (M/B) (University of 8 May 1945/ Guelma) Supervisor: Mrs. BARES Meryem (M/B) (University of 8 May 1945/ Guelma) Examiner: Mrs. SADAOUI Lamia (M/B) (University of 8 May 1945/ Guelma) Septembre 2016 I Dedication I dedicate this work to my family, my beloved mother, who stayed up all nights with me when I was sick during last few months. I would like to thank her for encouraging me to carry on my academic career and finish university when I was about to leave it for a job opportunity I have received in 2013. Special thanks for my father who really inspired me to love politics and chose civilization because of his discussions which turn around daily political issues. Also this work is dedicated to my brother Ryan who tried hard to reach any congress man in the United States and conduct a short interview with him even though he failed to do so. Big thanks go to my friends and classmates who supported me during the whole year, Houssem, Safwan, Rabeh, and special thanks for Besma, Halima, and Fatma. II Acknowledgments First I would like to single out my supervisor Mrs. BARESM. for her professional guidance, positive feedback and encouragements. I am also grateful to all the teachers at the Department of Letters and English language at Guelma’s University including Pr. Toulgui L, Mr. ATY M. , Mr. BOUDECHICHE H., Mrs ZEMITI A., Mrs. KRIBES A., Miss CHIHEB A. Special thanks to those teachers who worked honestly and with conscience to enlighten our brains and souls. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. CHOUANA K. who provided me with many significant documents and videos which helped me in writing my dissertation. III Abstract The present dissertation discusses the U.S. nuclear disarmament policy imposed towards Iran during Obama’s presidency with a focus on the reasons, procedures and implications of this policy. The study comes to conclude that the real reason behind the permanent American interventions to stop the Iranian nuclear program is the protection of its interests in the Gulf and Middle East regions. This study explored the nature U.S-Iran relations before and after the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. It pointed out the transformation of America from being a trustworthy friend of Iran into a fierce enemy following the fall of the Shah regime and its replacement by an Islamic regime. This work has also traced the evolution of Iran’s nuclear program and the pressure this program has endured and resisted. The major findings of the present dissertation include first the validation of the speculations raised around the American attempt to delay and prevent the Iranians from making further advancements in the nuclear field, and second the affirmation of the positive assumptions attributed to Obama’s “new policy” towards Iran. IV Résumé La présente thèse traite la politique de désarmement nucléaire des Etats-Unis imposé vers l’Iran pendant la présidence d’Obama avec un accent sur les raisons, les procédures et les implications de cette politique. L’étude a conclu que la véritable raison derrière les permanentes interventions américaines contre le programme nucléaire Iranien est la protection de ses intérêts au Golfe et en Moyen-Orient. Cette étude a aussi exploré la nature de la relation entre les Etats-Unis et l’Iran avant et après la Révolution Islamique d’Iran en 1979. Elle a souligné la transformation des U.S.A d’un de l’Iran en un farouche ennemi après la chute du régime du Shah et son remplacement par un régime Islamique. Ce travail a également retracé l’évolution du programme nucléaire Iranien et les pressions que ce programme a soufferts et a résistés. Les conclusions principales de la présente thèse comprennent d’abord la validation des spéculations soulevées autour de la tentative américaine de retarder et d’empêcher les Iraniens de faire d’autres progrès dans le domaine nucléaire, et deuxièmement l’affirmation des hypothèses positives attribuées à la “Nouvelle Politique” d’Obama envers L’Iran. V ملخص اﻷطروحة الحالية تناقش السياسة اﻷمريكية لنزع السﻻح النووي التي فرضت على إيران خﻻل فترة حكم الرئيس أوباما مع التركيز على اﻷسباب،اﻹجراءات واﻵثار المترتبة عن هذه السياسة. تنتهي هذه الدراسة باستنتاج مفاده أن اﻷسباب الحقيقية وراء التدخﻻت اﻷميركية الدائمة لوقف البرنامج النووي اﻹيراني هو حماية مصالحها في منطقة الخليج والشرق اﻷوسط. كما تقوم هذه الدراسة أيضا بالتحقيق في طبيعة العﻻقة بين الوﻻيات المتحدة وإيران قبل وبعد الثورة اﻹسﻻمية في إيران عام 5474. أشارت نتائج هذا التحقيق إلى تحول أمريكا من كونها صديق جدير بالثقة ﻹيران إلى عدو شرس بعد سقوط نظام’الشاه‘واستبداله بالنظام اﻹسﻻمي. هذا البحث أيضا تتبع مراحل تطور البرنامج النووي اﻹيراني والضغوطات التي عانى منها وقاومها. وتشمل النتائج الرئيسية لهذه اﻷطروحة أول إثبات صحة التكهنات التي أثيرت حوﻻ المحاوﻻت اﻷميركية لتأخير و منع اﻹيرانيين من تحقيق المزيد من التقدم في المجال النووي،و ثانيا تأكيد اﻻفتراضات اﻹيجابية حول "سياسة أوباما الجديدة" الموجهة نحو إيران. VI List of Abbreviations/Acronyms BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CIA Central Intelligence Agency IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency INTEC Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center JCPOF Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action LEU Low-enriched uranium NBC National Broadcasting Company NPT Non- Proliferation Treaty SAVAK Organization of Intelligence and Security of the Country (Sazman-e Etelaat Va Amniat Keshvar). UNSC United Nation Security Council WMD Weapon of Mass Destruction VII Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter One: U.S. - Iran Relations: From Partnership to Mutual Exclusion……..…… 8 1.1. A Glimpse of History about Iran- U.S. Relations Up the 1980’s…………………...…… 9 1.2. The Islamic Revolution in Iran: Causes and Effects……………………….......……….. 51 1.3. U.S. -Iran Diplomacies Following 9/11 Attacks………………………….........……….. 22 Chapter Two: Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions vs. U.S. Opposition……………......…………. 22 2.1. Iran’s Nuclear Program: A Historical Overview………………………….....…………. 22 2.2. The Fuel Swap Deal and Obama’s Letter…………………………………............……. 22 2.3. The Laptop Incident and Iran-IAEA Modalities Agreement………………….......……. 21 2.4. Iran’s Violation of The NPT: Truth or Propaganda? ……………………….………….. 38 Chapter Three: Obama’s New “direct policy” towards Iran and its Outcome............... 46 3.1. The JCPOA between U.S. Conviction and “Israeli” Obstruction…………………… 47 3.2. “Israel’s” Safety Comes First…………………………………………………………… 52 3.3. Obama’s View on Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran……………..……………… 57 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..……………. 63 Endnotes……………………………………………………………………………….……. 66 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………...……. 67 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………..... 81 1 Introduction During the Cold War the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R as the emerging powers in the aftermath of the Second World War distrusted each other to a high degree. This distrust escalated to reach an exaggerated fear from each other engendering huge effort from each side to implement an unbreakable defense and protection for their spheres of influence. Unfortunately, both powers invested all their efforts to produce and hold nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction. At the beginning, the arms race seemed a great idea, and grace from God for both powers that enabled them to protect themselves. However, within time this turned to become a very reckless endeavor that brings more harm than security, contrary to what was thought. By being produced and hold by only two powers, nuclear arms strained the less strong. Yet the whole world is unsecure with the existence of such weapons. The entire humanity may get involved in a nuclear war just because some people hate each other’s values and ideologies. As a reaction most of western powerful countries tried their best to get an immediate solution to this threat, and the result was to apply a new policy known as Nuclear Disarmament. Nuclear armament took the attention of many governments around the world, but the issue has also generated popular contention around the world. Ironically, the best popular action against nuclear armament was the New York demonstrations of 12 June 1982 that took place in Central Park. The demonstrators called for the end of the arms race and thus of the Cold War conflict. It was the largest anti-Cold War protest in American history. Despite many efforts to reduce nuclear weapons’ possession, more and more countries became eager to start their own nuclear programs to reduce the degree of threat that may be directed to them from some unfriendly nuclear states, as in the case of Iran. 2 By starting its own nuclear program Iran has entered in competition with the world’s powers challenging their rules and restrictions. From U.S. perspective the Iranian nuclear program is a threat to the whole world. Needless to mention that the United States is playing the role of the world’s peace maker and therefore is determined to end by all means Iran’s nuclear program. In this context, the present work has explored the nature of U.S. - Iran relation before and after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 with a focus on President’s Obama “new policy” used to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. Successive American administrations consider the Iranian nuclear threat as a high priority, but the rhetoric used to describe the Iranian regime and the way used in dealing with it had differed from one president to another.