U.S. Relations With Iran
1953 – 2023

U.S. Relations With Iran

Onetime allies, the United States and Iran have seen tensions escalate repeatedly in the four decades since the Islamic Revolution.

1953
August 19, 1953

CIA Assists Coup

Iranian civilians standing on a tank in Tehran after the 1953 coup. One holds a portrait of the shah.
Iranians carry a portrait of the shah through the streets of Tehran after the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq. Bettmann/Getty Images

U.S. and British intelligence agencies help elements in the Iranian military overthrow Iran’s prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq. This follows Mossadeq’s nationalization of the Britain-owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which led London to impose an oil embargo on Iran. The coup brings back to power the Western-friendly monarchy, headed by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Deeply unpopular among much of the population, the shah relies on U.S. support to remain in power until his overthrow in 1979.

1953
1954
August 29, 1954

Iran Signs Oil Agreement

Eleven Iranian officials and European businessmen sitting around a table
Iranian officials and representatives of eight foreign companies finalize the Consortium Agreement of 1954 Bettmann/Getty Images

Under U.S. and UK pressure, the shah signs the Consortium Agreement of 1954, which gives U.S., British, and French oil companies 40 percent ownership of the nationalized oil industry for twenty-five years.

1954
1957
March 5, 1957

Atoms for Peace Program

President Dwight Eisenhower speaks to a smiling Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran pose at the Marble Palace in Tehran. Associated Press

The United States and Iran sign the Cooperation Concerning Civil Uses of Atoms agreement as part of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” initiative, under which developing countries receive nuclear education and technology from the United States. It lays the foundation for the country’s nuclear program, and the United States later provides Iran with a reactor and weapons-grade enriched uranium fuel. Their collaboration continues until the start of Iran’s 1979 revolution.

1957
1960
September 14, 1960

Birth of OPEC

 King Fahd and Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani of Saudi Arabia speaking in a large room filled with other delegates
King Fahd and Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani of Saudi Arabia attend a 1975 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) summit in Algiers. Gilbert Uzan/Gamma Rapho/Getty Images

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela establish the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to rival the mostly Western companies dominating global oil supplies and to reestablish control over their domestic oil reserves. By the 1970s, OPEC profits skyrocket and the group gains considerable leverage over Western economies. Iran’s increased market clout makes it an even more crucial U.S. ally.

1960
1972
May 1972

Nixon Visits Iran

President Richard Nixon and Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi shake hands. Their wives and other officials stand in the background.
U.S. President Richard Nixon clasps the shah’s hand as he and First Lady Patricia Nixon prepare to depart from Iran. AP Photo

President Richard Nixon travels to Iran to ask the shah for help protecting U.S. security interests in the Middle East, including by opposing a Soviet-allied Iraq. In return, Nixon promises that Iran can buy any nonnuclear weapons system it wants. Oil prices skyrocket amid the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the subsequent Arab oil embargo against the United States, allowing the shah to purchase a larger supply of high-tech weaponry than anticipated, which unsettles U.S. officials.

1972
1979

Iranian Revolution

Two men amid a crowd hold up large photos of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
A demonstrator in Tehran carries a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who leads the Iranian Revolution from Paris. Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

The shah flees amid widespread civil unrest and eventually travels to the United States for cancer treatment. Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shiite cleric who opposed the shah’s Westernization of Iran, returns to the country after fourteen years in exile. Khomeini takes power as the supreme leader in December, turning Iran from a pro-West monarchy to a vehemently anti-West Islamic theocracy. Khomeini says Iran will try to “export” its revolution to its neighbors. In 1985, the militant group Hezbollah emerges in Lebanon and pledges allegiance to Khomeini.

1979
19791981
November 1979 – January 1981

Iran Hostage Crisis

A group of American hostages in Iran stand blindfolded and handcuffed amid their captors.
Blindfolded American hostages and their Iranian captors stand outside the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Bettmann/Getty Images

A group of radical Iranian college students takes fifty-two Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, demanding that the United States extradite the shah. Washington severs ties with Tehran, sanctions Iranian oil imports, and freezes Iranian assets. After 444 days, the hostages are released under the Algiers Accords [PDF], which were signed just minutes after the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan, whose 1980 presidential campaign emphasized President Jimmy Carter’s failure to free the hostages. As part of the accords, the United States promises not to intervene in Iranian politics.

19791981
19801988
September 1980 – August 1988

Iran-Iraq War

Three soldiers stand in the desert with guns pointed.
Iraqi soldiers fire at Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War. Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma/Getty Images

Iraq invades its neighbor and growing rival Iran amid fears of a Shiite revolt against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The United States supports secular Iraq with economic aid, training, and dual-use technology until the war ends in 1988, even after the CIA finds evidence that Iraqi forces used chemical weapons against Iranians. An estimated one million Iranians and 250,000–500,000 Iraqis die in the conflict.

19801988
1983
October 23, 1983

Beirut Barracks Bombing

A group of American soldiers stands amid the debris of the U.S. embassy in Beirut
U.S. marines search for survivors in the rubble of their Beirut barracks after an attack by the militant group Hezbollah. Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket/Getty Images

Two trucks loaded with explosives drive into barracks housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon, then detonate. The attack kills 241 U.S. military personnel—the highest single-day death toll for the U.S. Armed Forces since the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. A group named Islamic Jihad, widely believed to be a front for Hezbollah, claims responsibility for the attack. The bombing hastens the withdrawal of U.S. marines from Lebanon, and leads the State Department to designate Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984.

1983
1985

Iran-Contra Affair

Oliver North, in his military uniform, holds up his hand to be sworn in
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North is sworn in before a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the Iran-Contra affair. Chris Wilkins/AFP/Getty Images

Despite an arms embargo, senior Reagan administration officials begin secretly selling weapons to Iran to secure the release of seven Americans held hostage by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The officials use the money from the illegal deal to fund the right-wing Contras rebel groups in Nicaragua after Congress prohibits further funding of the insurgency. Reagan takes responsibility for the scandal in a 1987 televised address, and the affair ends in some officials’ convictions. Hezbollah kills two of the hostages and releases the others over several years.

1985
1988
April 18, 1988

Operation Praying Mantis

One man holds a newspaper with an article about the downed Iranian air jet, which several other men are looking at.
Iranian men in Dubai wait for news of their loved ones on the downed Iranian Air jet. Norbert Schiller/AFP/Getty Images

After an Iranian mine nearly sinks an American frigate in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy launches a retaliatory campaign called Operation Praying Mantis. American forces destroy two Iranian oil platforms and sink a frigate. In July, the U.S. Navy shoots down an Iranian passenger jet after mistaking it for a fighter jet, killing all 290 people on board.

1988
1991

Persian Gulf War

A line of tanks advances in the Saudi desert
U.S. troops man tanks in the Saudi desert during the Gulf War. Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

The United States leads a coalition of thirty-five countries to expel Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait, ousting the Iraqis in a matter of months. The war leads to intrusive UN inspections to prevent Iraq from restarting its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. Comprehensive sanctions and widespread corruption under the Oil-for-Food Program, created in the wake of the war, devastate the Iraqi public for nearly a decade, but fail to dislodge Saddam. Iran declares its neutrality in the conflict, but U.S. officials suspect it seeks to replace Iraq as the dominant power in the region.

1991
19921996

U.S. Intensifies Sanctions

The United States ramps up sanctions against Iran under the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. In 1992, Congress passes the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act, which sanctions materials that could be used to develop advanced weaponry. The White House expands sanctions with a complete oil and trade embargo in 1995. The 1996 Iran and Libya Sanctions Act imposes an embargo against non-American companies investing more than $20 million per year in Iran’s oil and gas sectors.

19921996
19982000

Mini Détente

Madeleine Albright gives a speech from behind a lectern at the U.S. State Department
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks about the U.S. decision to lift a ban on Iranian goods imports. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright meets with Iran’s deputy foreign minister at the Six-Plus-Two talks during the 1998 UN General Assembly. It is the highest-level U.S.-Iran contact since 1979. In April 2000, Albright acknowledges the United States’ role in overthrowing Mossadeq and calls previous policy toward Iran “regrettably shortsighted,” although the United States does not explicitly apologize for the intervention. Some sanctions against Iran are lifted.

19982000
2001
December 5, 2001

Bonn Agreement

An Afghan refugee family walks toward the camera
An Afghan family walks toward a refugee processing center in Pul-e-Charkhi, Afghanistan. Caren Firouz/Reuters

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush’s administration establishes a back channel with Iran to help coordinate the defeat of the Taliban, a shared enemy that had provided safe haven to members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. In the aftermath of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the United States and Iran collaborate on the Bonn Agreement [PDF] regarding state-building and the repatriation of Afghan refugees. 

2001
2002
January 29, 2002

‘Axis of Evil’

President George W. Bush delivers the 2002 State of the Union speech in front of a large American flag
U.S. President George W. Bush delivers his first State of the Union address. Luke Frazza/Pool/Reuters

During his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes Iran as part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iraq and North Korea. He says Iran “aggressively pursues [weapons of mass destruction] and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom.” In response, the Iranian government stops secret meetings with U.S. diplomats that are focused on capturing al-Qaeda operatives and combating the Taliban.

2002
2003
March 20, 2003

Iraq War Begins

An American soldier looks on as a statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled
A U.S. marine watches as a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad. Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

U.S. forces invade Iraq, aiming to end the threat posed by what Washington says are Saddam Hussein’s revived WMD programs. Iran backs local Shiite militias in Iraq, some of which participate in attacks on U.S. forces. Saddam’s dictatorship is toppled and he is executed in December. A 2019 U.S. Army study on the Iraq War concludes that “an emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor” in the conflict.

2003
2006
May 8, 2006

Ahmadinejad’s Letter to Bush

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sends President George W. Bush an eighteen-page letter—the first letter from an Iranian leader to a U.S. one since 1979. Ahmadinejad seeks to ease U.S.-Iran nuclear tensions, but Iran takes no steps to slow its uranium enrichment program, which it says is for civilian energy production. Separately, the U.S. Congress approves the Iran Freedom Support Act in September to fund Iranian civil society and promote democracy.

2006
2007
September 25, 2007

Tensions at the United Nations

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.
Ahmadinejad addresses the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York. Chip East/Reuters

During a speech at the opening session of the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad calls the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program “closed” and says his government will disregard Security Council resolutions calling on the country to halt uranium enrichment. At a press conference afterward, he calls the Israeli government an “illegal Zionist regime.” A U.S. National Intelligence Estimate [PDF] released in November finds that Iran ended its nuclear arms program in 2003 but continued to enrich uranium.

2007
2013
November 24, 2013

Interim Nuclear Deal

Barack Obama speaks on the phone while seated in the Oval Office
U.S. President Barack Obama talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a phone call in the Oval Office. White House/Reuters

President Barack Obama calls newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, the most direct contact since 1979. Two months later, Iran and the P5+1—the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany—sign an initial nuclear agreement [PDF], providing Iran with some sanctions relief. Obama praises the deal for cutting off Iran’s “most likely paths to a bomb,” while Rouhani hails it as a “political victory” for Iran.

2013
2015
July 14, 2015

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

A group of diplomats representing JCPOA signatory countries stand in front of a row of flags
Officials from China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union gather after finalizing the Iran nuclear agreement. Carlos Barria/Reuters

Iran, the P5+1, and the European Union reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program that is named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In return for sanctions relief, Iran agrees to undertake a series of steps, including dismantling and redesigning its nuclear reactor in Arak, allowing more intrusive verification mechanisms, and limiting uranium enrichment for at least fifteen years. The deal is meant to increase Iran’s “breakout time” for developing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon from a few weeks to at least one year. Many Republican and some Democratic lawmakers oppose the deal, arguing that lifting sanctions will bolster the Iranian government and allow it to destabilize the region.

2015
2018
May 8, 2018

Trumps Pulls Out of JCPOA

Donald Trump holds up a signed document while standing at a lectern
U.S. President Donald J. Trump displays a presidential memorandum after announcing his intent to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

President Donald Trump announces that the United States will withdraw from the JCPOA and mount a sanctions campaign to place “maximum pressure” on Iran. Many arms control experts and European allies condemn the move, while many Republican lawmakers, Israel, and Saudi Arabia applaud it. Iran responds by boosting uranium enrichment in defiance of the agreement’s terms. The withdrawal marks the beginning of rhetorical and military escalation with Iran under the Trump administration.

2018
2019
April 15, 2019

U.S. Designates IRGC a Terrorist Group

Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps hold guns while marching in a parade
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps march in a military parade in Tehran. Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters

Trump designates the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—a branch of the Iranian army—a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). It is the first time the United States designates part of another country’s government as an FTO. A week earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweets that he personally requested the move. Rouhani says the action will only increase the IRGC’s popularity at home and abroad.

2019
2019
May 2019 – October 2019

Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

Aerial shot of a small boat circling a red tanker
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seizes a British tanker as it passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Tasnim News Agency/Getty Images

On June 13, two oil tankers are attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, about a month after four commercial ships are damaged in the same area. The United States blames Iran for the attacks, with Trump calling the country “a nation of terror.” The United States announces the deployment of one thousand additional troops to the Middle East in response, and the IRGC shoots down a U.S. surveillance drone two days later. The United States again blames Iran for attacks on oil tankers in the region in the following months and tries to seize an Iranian vessel sailing near the British territory of Gibraltar.

2019
2019
September 14, 2019

Attacks on Saudi Oil Fields

Yellow caution tape stretches in front of a Saudi Aramco oil facility
Workers examine a damaged Saudi Aramco oil facility in Khurais, Saudi Arabia. Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

Drones attack oil facilities of state-controlled Saudi Aramco in eastern Saudi Arabia, striking the country’s second-largest oil field and a critical crude-oil stabilization center. The attack halts half the country’s oil output and causes an unprecedented jump in Brent crude prices. Trump approves the deployment of U.S. troops to bolster Saudi air and missile defenses at the kingdom’s request. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claim responsibility for the attack, citing Saudi intervention in Yemen’s civil war, but the United States and Saudi Arabia blame Iran.

2019
2019
December 31, 2019

Protests at U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

Protesters run away from tear gas at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, where multiple flags representing Iraqi militias are planted
Protesters and militia fighters run from tear gas thrown by U.S. embassy security forces during a protest condemning U.S. air strikes. Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters

Iraqi demonstrators and Iran-backed militias attempt to seize the U.S. Embassy Baghdad in retaliation for an air strike that killed militia members. Protesters chant “death to America” and demand that the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq. In response, President Trump tweets that Iran will pay “a very big price” for any lives lost or damage incurred at U.S. facilities. 

2019
2020
January 3, 2020

Killing of Qasem Soleimani

A crowd surrounds a car carrying a banner depicting Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani
Iranians attend a funeral procession for Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, both killed in a U.S. air strike in Baghdad. WANA/Reuters

The United States kills Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, with a drone strike in Baghdad. Soleimani was considered by some experts to be Iran’s second most powerful person after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is also killed, along with seven other Iranian and Iraqi nationals. Iran promises revenge and announces that it will no longer commit to restrictions under the nuclear deal. Soon after, Iran mistakenly shoots down a Ukrainian passenger plane as Iranian forces are on high alert for possible U.S. attacks. It later attacks multiple U.S. bases in Iraq, wounding dozens of U.S. and Iraqi personnel.

2020
2020
April 22, 2020

Iran Ramps Up Military Maneuvers

A military satellite launches from behind a row of Iranian flags
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launches the Noor military satellite into orbit from Semnan, Iran. WANA/Reuters

Iran launches its first military satellite, prompting U.S. concerns over Iran’s long-range missile capabilities. Days later, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is still party to the JCPOA and will seek to snap back multilateral sanctions against Iran through a Security Council resolution. Opponents of the move, including JCPOA signatory Russia, argue that the United States abandoned the terms of the deal when the Trump administration’s reimposed sanctions on Iran. Iranian boats threaten U.S. Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf, but the United States does not respond militarily.

2020
2020
May 2020

Venezuela Oil Shipments

Venezuela oil company employees wearing masks wave Iranian flags. One fist-bumps Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami.
A worker from the state-owned oil company greets Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami as an Iranian tanker arrives in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. Miraflores Palace/Reuters

Amid a shortage in Venezuela, Iranian tankers arrive to deliver oil despite U.S. sanctions on both countries. In June, the White House sanctions five Iranian ship captains involved in the delivery to discourage trade between Iran and Venezuela.

2020
2020
October 2020

Failure to Extend UN Arms Embargo

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is flanked by other officials while announcing the restoration of sanctions on Iran
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces the Trump administration’s restoration of sanctions on Iran. Patrick Semansky/Pool/Reuters

The Trump administration seeks to extend a decade-long UN arms embargo on Iran that is set to expire in October under the JCPOA. The administration contends that Iran is in violation of the deal and cannot be allowed to replenish its weapons stockpile. At the UN Security Council, a U.S.-backed resolution to extend the embargo fails, highlighting a lack of international support for Washington’s Iran policy and the United States’ diminishing influence. The United States also fails in its attempt to reimpose international sanctions on Iran using the JCPOA’s “snapback” mechanism, leading it to unilaterally sanction entities previously targeted by the United Nations and say it will continue to abide by the now-expired UN embargo.

2020
2020
October 2020 – December 2020

Trump’s Final Sanctions Surge

Trump ramps up his maximum-pressure campaign against Iran with a flurry of new sanctions targeting entities in the oil and financial sectors and a leading charity, among others, as well as top officials. Washington cites as reasons for the new measures the Iranian government’s alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election, its suspected development of chemical weapons, and human rights abuses committed during a crackdown on protesters in November 2019.

2020
2020
November 2020 – December 2020

Iran Boosts Uranium Enrichment

Men in military uniforms sit on either side of a coffin with Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's photo on one end of it
Mourners sit next to the coffin of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh during the burial ceremony in Tehran, Iran. Hamed Malekpour/WANA/Reuters.

Following the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top nuclear scientist, Iran’s parliament approves a bill to boost uranium enrichment to 20 percent—far beyond the concentrations permitted by the JCPOA. It also vows to expel International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors if sanctions on the banking and oil sectors are not lifted within two months. The bill passes with approval from Supreme Leader Khamenei, despite President Rouhani’s opposition. Iran blames Israel for Fakhrizadeh’s killing, and hard-liners insist the United States was also involved. Khamenei signals that U.S.-Iran relations will still be fraught under President-Elect Joe Biden.

2020
2021
April 2021

Talks to Revive the JCPOA

Foreign ministers from China, EU, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, and UK sit at a table in front of their countries' flags
EU Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs Enrique Mora and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wait for the start of a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna. EU Delegation in Vienna/Reuters

The JCPOA’s signatories hold talks in Vienna aimed at bringing the United States and Iran back in compliance with the agreement. U.S. and Iranian officials attend the so-called proximity meetings to exchange ideas on sequencing a return to the deal. Each side insists that the other should be the first to resume its obligations, and they try to downplay expectations for immediate progress. The talks persist even after an explosion at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility—which it blames on Israel—leads Iran to enrich uranium at a new high of 60 percent purity.

2021
2021
June 2021 – November 2021

Nuclear Talks Stall After Raisi’s Election

A young Iranian woman holds a portrait of Ebrahim Raisi. Other adults and a child are seen, some with small Iranian flags.
A supporter of Ebrahim Raisi displays his portrait during a rally celebrating his presidential election victory. Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters

In June, Iran’s presidential election is won by conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, a judiciary chief targeted by U.S. sanctions due to his involvement in a 1988 panel that sentenced thousands of dissidents to death as well as his role in the repression of Iran’s 2009 Green Movement protests. Negotiations to revive the JCPOA stall for months as Raisi completes his transition to power. The talks resume in November, with Iran’s new negotiators adopting a more hard-line stance compared to their predecessors’. Meanwhile, there are signs that the country’s uranium-enrichment capabilities are advancing.

2021
2022
March 2022

U.S., Mideast Allies Seek to Deter Iran

Foreign ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, the United States, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates all shaking hands.
Foreign ministers pose for a photo after a meeting of the Negev Forum. Jacquelyn Martin/AFP/Getty Images

The United States, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) establish the Negev Forum, a regional cooperation framework that aims to deter Iran, among other goals unrelated to defense. The same month, the United States secretly assembles military officers from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE for a meeting focused on addressing Iran’s drone and missile capabilities.

2022
2022
March 2022 – July 2022

Biden Warns Iran as Nuclear Talks Languish

Negotiations on reviving the nuclear deal pause during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, when they resume in June, yield little progress. U.S. officials warn that time to save the deal is running out as Iran reportedly accumulates enough enriched uranium to fuel a nuclear bomb, though creating a functional weapon could take months or years. During his first visit to Israel as president, Biden commits the United States to using “all elements of its national power” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

2022
2022
September 2022 – October 2022

U.S. Backs Iran’s Protesters, Nuclear Talks On Hold

Iranian protesters set their headscarves on fire while marching down a street in Tehran.
Iranian protesters set their headscarves on fire while marching down a street in Tehran. Getty Images

A wave of women-led protests roils Iran, with many demonstrators denouncing Supreme Leader Khamenei and calling for an end to the Islamic Republic. Security forces try to suppress the demonstrations, restricting internet and cellular service and arresting some 12,500 people. They kill over two hundred protesters. The Biden administration sanctions entities involved in the crackdown and exempts tech companies from other sanctions to help Iranians access the internet. Meanwhile, the White House signals that nuclear talks are indefinitely stalled due to the protests and Iran’s apparent support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

2022
2023
September 8, 2023

Prisoner Swap Deal Emerges

Formerly detained Iranian American dual citizens Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz are embraced as they disembark in Doha, Qatar
Formerly detained Iranian American dual citizens Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz are greeted as they disembark in Doha, Qatar, before traveling on to the United States. Mohammed Dabbous/Reuters

Washington issues a sanctions waiver that frees up $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen in South Korea in return for the release of five Iranian American dual citizens detained in Iran. Republican lawmakers criticize the deal—said to be mediated by governments including Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom—as a ransom paid to a hostile government. U.S. officials say the funds offer limited benefit to Iran, which can only access the capital indirectly and use it to buy humanitarian goods. Days later, Biden also grants clemency to five Iranians jailed in the United States, though only two plan to return to Iran.

2023
2023
October 2023

Hamas Attack on Israel Costs Iran

A man walks past a police station in Sderot, Israel, that was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas militants stationed inside
A man walks past a police station in Sderot, Israel, that was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas militants stationed inside, on October 8, 2023. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas launches a surprise assault on Israel in early October that kills more than 1,300 Israelis, the country’s deadliest-ever attack on civilians. The group also captures dozens more Israelis as hostages. After the attack, the United States and Qatar cooperate to block Iran from accessing the $6 billion in humanitarian assistance released to it in September. U.S. and regional intelligence officials find no immediate evidence of Iran’s direct involvement in Hamas’s offensive, but experts say the country had provided weapons and training to the group in the months prior.

2023