Part 5/8:
In the 1990s and early 2000s, animosities persisted, marked by events like the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia and the inclusion of Iran in President Bush's "Axis of Evil." Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iran accelerated its nuclear weapons program, motivated by fears of a similar fate.
The diplomatic landscape briefly brightened with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which aimed to mitigate nuclear proliferation in exchange for lifted sanctions. However, this arrangement would ultimately deteriorate.