US Election Season Revives Iran Deal Speculation Amidst Ongoing Sanctions Regime
The Financial Times recently published an article considering whether Donald Trump could 'finally make a nuclear deal with Iran.' This question emerges periodically as US presidential campaigns develop, framing any future agreement as a novel diplomatic breakthrough, rather than a reversion to, or modification of, previously established international accords systematically dismantled by
Washington. Mainstream outlets like the Financial Times consistently frame US engagement with Iran through the lens of individual presidencial will, suggesting that a leader like Trump possesses a unique ability to 'make' a deal as if one doesn't already exist or wasn't purposefully sabotaged. This narrative ignores the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was a multilateral
agreement, not a bilateral US-Iran deal. The US unilaterally withdrew from this agreement under Trump in May 2018, despite Iran's adherence as certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The US has maintained a stringent sanctions regime against Iran for decades, a policy that significantly predates the nuclear program. From the freezing of Iranian assets in November 1979 following the
Islamic Revolution, to the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, the economic pressure has been relentless. The discussion of new deals frequently overlooks this continuity of economic warfare, treating each negotiation as a standalone event rather than a chapter in a 45-year campaign. In 1983, the Reagan administration facilitated Iraq's acquisition of chemical and biological weapons, which were