June 17, 2012

The Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan held a lecture entitled: “Iran and the United States of America, What After Barack Obama Takes Over the Presidency ¿” presented by Dr. Mahjoub Al-Zweiri, Coordinator of the Iranian Studies Unit at the Center, on Wednesday 12/11/2008 at exactly eleven o’clock. Ten and a half, where this lecture dealt with many aspects and axes.

At the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Al-Zweiri presented the most prominent stages that the relationship between the United States of America and Iran had gone through. After that, some indicators that indicate the difference in Obama’s view of Iran were discussed. Among these indicators is Obama’s lack of reluctance to negotiate with the Iranian regime, and although it is not a new principle approved by the new administration, what can be recorded for Barack Obama is his failure to set preconditions for negotiation, as such negotiation will bring Iran closer to the United States of America, and thus contain the danger that it poses. Iran may pose it to the strategic interests of the United States of America, but one of the indicators that contradicts that proposition is the post-election speech, which included a number of old sayings repeated by the previous administration, such as “Iran, which poses a threat to the United States of America” and other statements. The other, which proves that the stereotype still largely controls the course of the relationship between the two countries.

After that, Dr. Al-Zweiri tried to explore Obama’s possible options in dealing with the Iranian file, including the option of early calm, which faces obstacles, namely, Israel, which criticized the “Obama” approach in dealing with Iran, and Gulf anxiety, especially after the growing “phobia” of Iran in the region, as well as the case What is no less important is that the new administration will seek to limit the military deployment of its forces, as part of a plan to reduce military spending that exceeded $2 trillion. As for the second option, it is for things to remain as they are, which is represented by the adherence of each party to its positions towards the other, which may lead to a kind of deterioration in the relationship, but not because of the nuclear file, but rather it may happen because of a security deterioration in Iraq that Washington understands as a result of Iranian interference. Also, Dr. Zweiri did not rule out the option of a military confrontation, as he kept this option on the table, even though the current data indicate that this option has receded.

At the end of the lectures, in which a number of politicians, academics, researchers and those interested in this matter participated, the most prominent aspects of the paper were discussed.