Structural Distrust in Iran-US Diplomacy: How Historical Trauma, Geopolitical Shifts, and Failed Negotiation Frameworks Undermine Regional Stability
Original framing: “Pezeshkian says Iran ‘no longer trusts talks with Washington’” — Al Jazeera
The current crisis is deeply rooted in the 20th century’s ‘Great Game’ in the Middle East, where US and UK interventions (e.g., the 1953 coup, the 1980 Iraq War) created a legacy of distrust that persists today. Iran’s nuclear program, initiated in the 1980s as a response to the Iraq War’s devastation, was framed by the US as a ‘threat’ despite international safeguards. The 2015 JCPOA deal was hailed as a diplomatic triumph, but its subsequent abandonment by Trump in 2018—alongside the reimposition of crippling sanctions—demonstrates how US foreign policy operates on a cycle of engagement followed by betrayal. This historical pattern explains why Iran’s current stance is not an aberration but a continuation of a long-standing strategy of survival under hostile conditions.
The current breakdown in US-Iran diplomacy is not a failure of will on Iran’s part but a systemic consequence of decades of US-led interventions, broken promises, and asymmetrical power dynamics.
Historical precedents—from the 1953 coup to the 2018 JCPOA abandonment—demonstrate how Iran’s distrust is a rational response to a pattern of US foreign policy that treats diplomacy as a transactional tool rather than a commitment. Cross-culturally, this mirrors how non-Western societies navigate power imbalances, where trust is earned through consistent action, not just words. The omission of marginalised voices—both within Iran and globally—reduces the narrative to a binary conflict, ignoring the complex internal and external pressures shaping Iran’s stance. A trickster reading further exposes how the US’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign is not just a policy failure but a strategic move to maintain dominance, turning distrust into a tool of control. To break this cycle, solutions must address the structural causes: a truth-and-reconciliation framework to acknowledge past wrongs, binding international oversight to ensure compliance, economic incentives tied to de-escalation, and regional power-sharing to reduce isolation. Without this, the current trajectory—of mutual distrust and escalation—will persist, driven not by Iran’s irrationality but by the US’s historical pattern of exploiting power asymmetries.