The U.S. Approaches in Its Nuclear Policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran Based on the Documents in the Nuclear Posture Review Report (2018-2001)

Framing long-term horizons within the structure of the U.S. strategic nuclear planning has been acquiring a significant status, specifically since the end of the Cold War. For this reason, the nuclear posture review reports can be classified as among the strategic planning documents that integrate nuclear weapons within the U.S. complicated network of defense architecture. Alongside this general trend, however, the above-mentioned documents have turned into an open space for announcing U.S. approaches to nuclear policy before international security environments and other countries. The main objective in the present research is to explore U.S. nuclear policy approaches before the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of analyzing the contents of the nuclear posture review documents that were published in the Bush Jr. and Obama administrations as well as in the time period after the advent of Trump administration. Based on this, the main question in the present research is what approach the U.S. NPR documents have adopted in relation to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The method used in the present research is analytical-descriptive, with the required information having been collected with documentary and library method. The findings in this article show that the U.S. nuclear posture review report documents within the time period mentioned above have employed a wide range of hard, soft, and smart mechanisms against the Islamic Republic of Iran in line with meeting the U.S. national security objectives.