Iraq and Iranian - American Interactions

Iran–u.s. relations have been characterized by ideological inconsistencies as well as strategic competitions during the past decades. at times, their competition has been intensified particularly in the middle east and placed the two countries at the verge of military confrontation. that said, observing the two countries’ relations with iraq is indicative of a different pattern. unlike other areas, in iraq, iran and the united states have taken distance form grand strategic competition and inclined towards some kind of indirect cooperation. in contrast to the two major viewpoints about iran–u.s. relations in iraq which tend to describe them as either based on strategic cooperation or all-out confrontation, that the reality falls in between these two extreme views. what best describes the reality is that despite persistence of ideological inconsistencies and strategic conflicts in the middle east, the geopolitical constraints in iraq and emergence of joint threats in this country have driven iran and the united states towards indirect cooperation. in other words, emerging challenges and threats in iraq have introduced some grounds for cooperation between iran and the united states.