Usa-Iran: dopo le sanzioni, l'ora del dialogo

On the eve of a new round of the Genève nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran, the US Senate is weighing the possibility of approving the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act (Nipa) of 2013, i.e. a new law that would impose additional economic sanctions on Tehran. However, it would be wise to consider if the Nipa would be useful to achieve a diplomatic compromise at the negotiating table. This paper analyses in the shadow of the ‘dual track policy’ how the sanctions hurt the Iranian economy, and the ‘hawkish’ and ‘dovish’ approaches pursued in the US by the Obama administration, the lawmakers and the public opinion. In the end, the author considers the new relaxed diplomatic environment of rapprochement and how the leading negotiating power, the US, could behave toward its (old?) Iranian enemy.