ABSTRACT
Introduction When Barack Obama was elected as America’s forty-fourth president, some signs indicated that a new era in the bitter history of US-Iran relations could commence. In his Inaugural Address in January 2009, the change-minded new president addressed Iranians with a metaphorical promise: “we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist” (Obama 2009a, para. 24). This was new language, a hand of friendship offered to a government in a 30-year-old state of animosity with America. Obama had made similar overtures in his presidential campaign before, signaling that he was prepared to meet Iranian leaders without any preconditions (Pecquet 2013).
