Achieving international credibility and popularity, and influence in global public opinion or based on some intellectuals access to soft power along with achieving this very consequence in national level are the importance ends and unspecified diplomacy of countries in international relations and politics. This crucial issue is followed in different ways according to status, position, potentialities and opportunities of all countries in international system.

Policies of soft power are included in a set of cultural-principle components that have been identified to America since this country was formed. Soft power includes leadership, benign hegemony, human rights as well as sorts of sanctions. Surveying the U.S. policies based on soft power in post cold war era, specifically toward Iran and hostile relations in the past three decades, has double importance. There is a debate for applying this type of power in America; in one hand, some argue that the U.S. should act according to human criteria and people's opinion, making a positive picture of America in the mind of people and achieving credibility in the public opinion internally and externally. In the other hand, others like neoconservatives believe that why the army and the military power of America should remain unusable.

Thus, this is the question that what was/is the role of soft power in foreign policy of the U.S. vis-à-vis Iran? to answer this question, foreign policies of America based on contexts such as sanctions, human rights, promoting the global level of democracy, development of free market economy, American mission and American exceptionalism (along with the remarks of security and military) are criticized and examined toward Iran in the presidency of Clinton and Bush (II). Methodologically, this study used descriptive-analytical approach through data collection of the first and the second hand recourses