There have always been two major political models for pursuing interests in political games.
The first one is the liberal approach and the second is a realistic one. In the liberal approach, relative interests are followed, while in the realistic one, absolute benefits are pursued.
Former US President Donald Trump’s behavior in the past four years was based on absolute interests.
In fact, Trump did not favor a win-win game in US foreign policy at the international scene; instead, his administration’s deeds were based on the assumption that the US must be the winner everywhere, while every other country should bow down before the US hegemony.
The Trump modus operandi at all levels led to escalation of tension in Washington’s relations with major and minor world powers, from Mexico City and Ottawa in its neighborhood to Brussels, Beijing and New Delhi far away.
The message of such approach taken by the US to the world was that all possible interests must be packed for the US entirely.
In order to reach that end, Trump resorted to pressures, sanctions and threats. Economic war against China, and aluminum campaign against EU can be cited.
In regard to his mentality which pursues outright victories, Trump followed maximum pressure policy against Iran during the past three years. The basis of that policy was intimidation, threats and sanctions to force the other side to yield to US demands.
Despite the impact of that policy on various economic fields and also the public welfare of the Iranians, today's rule of the game in the international arena is diplomacy and multilateralism.
Now the new US administration is pursuing the policy of Trump reversal including break-up with Paris Climate Agreement, the World Health Organization, and the International Human Rights Council.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not an exception to that rule; therefore, the US maximum pressure policy has now been replaced with maximum diplomacy. The signs of that diplomatic shift are worth to be contemplated in a number of fields.
During Trump’s tenure, Brian Hook was the State Department's special envoy for Iran. He was well known for favoring sanctions and threats, rather than diplomacy and negotiations. Today, the Biden administration has replaced Hook with Robert Malley, an architect of the JCPOA pack in 2015, and this replacement shows a drastic change in the newly adopted direction.
The US has obviously realized the significant point that intimidation and threats do not lead to favorable results in a confrontation with Iran.
The Iranians must be treated respectfully and logically, while the interests of the Iranian nation, too, need to be fully preserved.
Keeping such concerns in mind, serious efforts made by Molley in recent weeks in consultations with three EU powers within the JCPOA are noteworthy.
President Biden has announced failure of maximum pressure policy and emphasized the need to hold dialogue with Iran on JCPOA.
It is quite clear that the US administration as the only side that has breached the JCPOA must immediately terminate the sanctions on the oil field and financial transactions, to prove its goodwill in practice.
The point is that the US political language has changed and is no longer on the focus of the sanctions and threats.
A recent report published in New York-based Bloomberg news network indicated that the Biden administration is trying to pave the path for allocation of an International Monetary Fund loan to Iran. There has also been the cancellation of the presidential order to bar citizens of the Muslim nations including Iran from entering the United States.
Also, Biden has recently said over and over that he wants Iran to take the first step to return to the JCPOA.
Therefore, to create a positive atmosphere in the international arena, and arrive at a broad consensus inside the county in order to take maximum advantage of the the opportunity emerging now is necessary.
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