Tracing discursive strategies to understand the U.S. withdrawal from the iranian nuclear deal

Abstract

Based on a discourse-historical approach, this study examines the discursive strategies used by the United States to reproduce Iranian enmity that constitutes the basis for the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Analyzing the U.S. Congressional hearings and speeches delivered by President Trump on Iran, the paper shows how the United States has engaged in legitimizing its antagonistic actions towards Iran by appealing to the discursive strategy of positive selfpresentation and negative other-representation. Basing its arguments on the topoi of history, threat, and responsibility, the United States presents Iran as a hostile rouge regime sponsoring terrorism and posing a threat to regional and global security. Emphasizing that such discourses are embedded within historical conditions, the paper highlights the historical context and discursive strategies that the United States exploits to justify its anti-nuclear deal actions.