The Iranian Revolutionary Regime and US-Led Non-Proliferation Policy in the Middle-East

Abstract

The 1979 Iranian Revolution replaced the Shah’s Western-backed monarchy with an Islamic Republic grounded in clerical authority, transforming U.S.–Iran relations from cooperative nuclear development to entrenched hostility. Atomic energy shifted from a symbol of modernisation to an emblem of sovereignty and resistance, with decades of sanctions, diplomatic breakdowns, and strategic escalation deepening antagonism and threatening both regional stability and the global non-proliferation regime. This study analysed the interplay between Iran’s nuclear ambitions under the revolutionary regime and U.S.-driven non-proliferation strategies through Brodie’s (1946) Nuclear Deterrence Theory, grounded in political realism. Adopting a qualitative design, it employed the documentary method and textual analysis to examine policy statements, official reports, international agreements, UN resolutions, think-tank studies, scholarly works, and credible news accounts. Findings show that since 1979, U.S.-led non-proliferation policy in the Middle East has shifted from multilateral, diplomacy-driven approaches to unilateral, coercive, and increasingly militarised strategies centred on Iran’s nuclear programme. Initiatives such as the JCPOA demonstrated that sustained diplomacy backed by coordinated sanctions could constrain nuclear development, yet the U.S. withdrawal in 2018 fractured international consensus, spurred Iranian enrichment, and heightened insecurity. This trajectory culminated in U.S. military strikes in 2025, undermining NPT norms and risking legitimisation of preventive warfare. The study concludes that overreliance on sanctions and force paradoxically strengthens the appeal of nuclear deterrence for targeted states. It recommends re-establishing a multilateral diplomatic framework with robust verification, reciprocal sanctions relief, inclusive regional security dialogues, and calibrated incentives to de-escalate tensions while preventing further proliferation.