By Geoff LaMear
With the resumption of Iran-U.S. nuclear talks Monday, the U.S. should reconsider its approach if it wants negotiations to succeed. “Carrots and sticks” is an old metaphor that suggests that the right mix of punishment and rewards can force countries to change their behavior. But since 2018, when Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. has been stuck on punishment. The past three years should tell us that we can’t force Iran to press ahead in nuclear negotiations with coercion alone.
First, let’s consider the stick.
The chief instrument of U.S. punishment against Iran has been a wide-ranging economic sanctions campaign, targeting 80 percent of Iran’s economy and prohibiting it from exporting goods to the rest of the world. Iran has been subject to U.S. sanctions intermittently for over 40 years, so when the U.S. reimposed them in 2018, it was devastating — not unprecedented. In 2000, the plurality of U.S. sanctions worldwide were against Iran. In 2021, the same holds true, with little to show for it.
This piece was originally published in NBC News on November 30, 2021. Read more HERE.