Analysis | The U.S. is Losing the Ayatollah’s War
Cultural diplomacy is the key to better U.S.-Iran relations.
Sara Wolverson
“They lie that the enemy is America; the enemy is here.” In the streets of Iran, young women and men chant this slogan, which Ayatollah Khameini sees as the product of a “jang-e narm.” In Khameini’s view, Iran and America are locked in a “comprehensive soft war” for Iranian youth and culture. Why is no one fighting here in the United States?
U.S. foreign policy does not prioritize this culture war, but it should. It is time to re-plant seeds for improved relations with future Iranian leaders. The historic Iran nuclear deal reaped rich rewards from cultural influence. At the time of the agreement, Iran had the highest number of U.S. college alums serving in any foreign government cabinet. Today, only 11% of Iranian political elite have studied outside Iran. We must use our powers of attraction to cultivate new relationships with future leaders through strategic educational exchange, savvy immigration policy, and information campaigns.
During negotiations for the nuclear deal, the American negotiating team developed a strong rapport with Iranian scientists and negotiators who had studied at U.S. universities. For example, Iran’s chief nuclear scientist and no. 2 negotiator, Ali Salehi, was a graduate student at M.I.T. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz had served there on the faculty. In the thick of negotiations, Moniz congratulated Salehi on becoming a grandfather with baby gear bearing the M.I.T. logo. Moniz’s personal diplomacy harvested the fruits of seeds planted decades earlier via education.
Iran was the top sender of students to the United States from 1974 to 1982, the same period in which the key Iranian figures to the nuclear deal received their U.S. educations. Three years after the signing of the deal, our abrupt departure shattered U.S. credibility with Iran and increased its cultural isolation. With the Muslim Ban, the refusal rate for non-immigrant visas from Iran jumped by 30 percentage points to an all-time high of 88%. From October 2023 to May 2024, student immigration visas dropped by almost 40%. Meanwhile, Iranian men, women, and children are imprisoned, raped, and executed for peaceful demonstrations demanding basic human rights. We may have lost the opportunity to engage the current leadership, but future leaders stand among those protesters. We should engage them through education, immigration, and public diplomacy.
The United States’ greatest strengths — democratic governance, free press, and open markets — are Iran’s greatest weaknesses. We should leverage these strengths by increasing Iranian exposure to them. We must open our doors to Iranian dissidents seeking asylum, expand visa programs to students and skilled professionals, and grant Temporary Protected Status to Iranian nationals seeking safe harbor from Iran’s oppressive regime. These steps will foster goodwill among the Iranian people, signal support for their cause, and create opportunities for increased dialogue. The exposure of Iranian students and aspiring professionals to American culture today will shape their perspectives and those of their children for decades to come.
Furthermore, the United States should increase media coverage of Iranian protests, especially the economic and political turmoil that drives them. We must expand efforts to undermine the Islamic Republic’s censorship and surveillance campaigns through initiatives like the U.S. State Department’s Internet Freedom program and Google’s Jigsaw unit. These programs help individuals bypass authoritarian-imposed firewalls to access a free internet with a diversity of perspectives. The U.S. government must increase funding for public diplomacy and information campaigns just as it did during the Cold War. Voice of America Persian News Network and Radio Farda should receive the same security prioritization that Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty received when their budget doubled before the fall of the Berlin Wall. We cannot force a change in regime, but we can influence a change in mindset. Only through shared understanding can positive relationships grow.
There is a valid concern that students from Iran pose a security threat if they study in fields such as nuclear science and access academic research or technology integral to our defense systems. Certainly, immigration and sanctions policies can restrict the fields in which students study. The visa process should require that academic study conforms to these restrictions. Universities that transgress the guidelines would face harsh penalties like any corporation that violates sanctions.
Others say the war in Israel is now our highest priority; now is not the time for cultural diplomacy. But Iran funds Hamas, and the chaos in Israel supports Iran’s agenda against the United States. The region will soon approach its breaking point as conflict between Israel and Iran escalates while we grow distracted with election season. Recently, the Iranian people also voted. They took a gamble on Masoud Pezeshkian, a “reformer,” as Iran’s President and top diplomat. Pezeshkian criticizes the regime’s attempts to endear Iran to Russia and China. He calls for renewed nuclear negotiations with the West to ease sanctions. He wants to tear down the “walls that have been built around the country by the hardliners.” Ayatollah Khameini continues to lay the bricks, but this election could mark a turning point.
If we do not want a hard war with Iran, we must engage in the soft war Iran is already fighting. We can pressure the regime to reform by winning the hearts of its people. Pezeshkian might provide us with the advantage. Ayatollah Khameini, who has not left the country since becoming Supreme Leader in 1989, bans English-language classes in Iranian schools and fears “Westoxification.” He believes that Western ideas and institutions could alter the course of the Islamic Republic. We can prove him right by opening education, immigration, and information to the next generation of Iranian leaders. We should revive a cross-cultural relationship that once thrived.
Sara Wolverson is a Masters’ fellow at George Washington University’s Elliott School with a concentration in U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East and 10+ years of experience in cultural diplomacy. As an actor and teacher, she has collaborated with international artists to bridge cultural gaps and foster mutual understanding. Sara currently researches how to balance economic sanctions with other methods of diplomacy to mitigate the humanitarian toll and achieve U.S. foreign policy goals.
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