AIPAC And U.S. Iran Policy

Middle East issue has always been a hot international issue, the Iran issue is notthe exception. U.S. Middle East pattern is changing with the escalation of Iran nuclearissue. This thesis is an attempt to analyze one of the main impetuses to influence U.S.Iran policy, which takes components of Interest Group AIPAC’s influence onCongress as a horizontal axis, and three latest U.S. presidents’ incumbencies asvertical axis of time.On the basis of research into AIPAC and U.S. Iran policy, the paper focuses onthe causes of AIPAC’s influence on U.S. Congress by analyzing Iran policies of BillClinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.Firstly, in early1993, just as the Clinton administration was coming to power,Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his foreign minister, Shimon Peres, startedclaiming that Iran was a growing threat to both Israel and the United States. Therefore,under the influence of Israel and pro-Israel lobby AIPAC’s influence on Congress, theClinton administration adopted the policy of dual containment.Secondly, the attacks on September11,2001, led President Bush abandon dualcontainment and pursue the even more ambitious strategy of regional transformation.Moreover, AIPAC canvasses Congress vigorously. Therefore, the policy of the U.S.against Iran appeared to be advancing towards war with Iran during Bush’s tenureperiod.Finally, the trajectory of the U.S. policy on Iran shows the ups and downs sincePresident Obama took office. Initially, Obama is trying to change the hostile postureof the Bush era between the United States and Iran, and then he takes the positiveengagement towards Iran. However, due to the identification of Iran’s nuclear weapondevelopment posing a threat to Israel’s security, AIPAC canvasses in Congressvigorously, and ultimately, under strong pressure from Congress, Obama signed TheComprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act. This law put anend to Obama administration’s attempts to contact Iran; therefore, sanctions and containment once again become the mainstream of the U.S. policy on Iran.In conclusion, an analysis of the U.S. Iran policies in Congress during the threepresidents’ tenure mentioned above, AIPAC has a great influence on U.S. Iran policiesby lobbying Congress.Though its aim seems to benefit Israel, in the end this resultnot only harms Israel, but also damages the interests of the United States and worldpeace and development. Therefore, to explore the influence of AIPAC on U.S. Iranpolicy by lobbying Congress is of great importance to the world peace and the UnitedStates and Israel as well.