From successful securitization to failed de-securitization: US administrations' policy towards Iranian nuclear program between 2001-2017

The aim of this study is to offer a comprehensive analysis of the securitization policy of the US Administration towards the Iranian Nuclear Program from 2001 to 2017 through discourse analysis and process tracing methods. To that end, the study firstly asks the question "what is the dominant policy towards the Iranian Nuclear Program in each eight-year term under the presidency of Bush and Obama?" followed by "who securitizes/de-securitizes, why, under which conditions, how and with what results". Utilizing the Securitization Theory of the Copenhagen School and the subsequent contributions to this theory, it was determined that the securitization move was successful towards the domestic audience and partially successful towards the international audience during the Bush period. Due to major changes in both the US and Iran in 2013, Obama's first and second terms were examined separately. In the first term, it was seen that the Obama Administration successfully continued the securitization process taken over from Bush and increased its international support. In the second term, the Obama Administration reversed its policy and launched a de-securitization move towards the US Congress aiming at reaching a diplomatic solution with Iran. Despite the reached nuclear agreement, the US Congress continued to see Iran as a nuclear threat, and the de-securitization move failed.