ABSTRACT
On 31 December 1977, Jimmy Carter visited Tehran and spent the New Year’s Eve with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Undoubtedly, it was a pivotal event, because the US, as a result, broke off diplomatic relations with Iran on 7 April 1980. As Mark Gasiorowski put it, "many reformists had concluded that Iran should normalize its relations with the United States and most other countries". Iran will also engage with European countries and other Western states with the goal of reinvigorating and further expanding relations. The deal, reached in Vienna, was a milestone in Iran's relations with the international community. It is more likely that US-Iran relations will continue to deteriorate rapidly and such developments will only boost Iranian conservatives. But the US administration has its regional interests and objectives, which could not have been sacrificed in order to improve bilateral relations with Iran.
