On June 5 (Thu), 2014, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation hosted a lecture by Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program of the U.S.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The title of the lecture was 'Iran, the United States and Iran's Foreign Policy'. Dr. Esfandiari, who was visiting Japan for the first time, left her native Iran for the United States in 1979 along with her family, following the Iranian Revolution. At the end of December 2006, while returning from Iran after paying a visit to her ailing mother, Dr. Esfandiari was taken captive for 105 days by the Iran Ministry of Information on the suspicion of anti-government activities.

At the lecture, Dr. Esfandiari discussed Iran's diplomatic policy and its relationship with the United States: "Iran is very aware of itself as a regional power that takes part in decisions to shape the region to which it belongs, in fields such as security and trade, and attempts to secure its role as a regional player. However, the U.S. is attempting to block Iran in this respect, and as such presents a major obstacle to the country. Therefore, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has resisted U.S. hegemony. Accordingly, even if moderates such as President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif attempted to improve U.S.-Iran relations, it is most likely that Ayatollah Khamenei will remain the skeptic. On the other hand, any rapprochement with Iran will be difficult because of the memory of incidents such as the occupation of the U.S. Embassy (in 1979, following the Iranian Revolution; 52 diplomats, marines and their families were taken hostage) is still strong in the minds of American citizens, and it will be difficult to rapidly change public feeling about the country. It is structural, complex problems such as these that lie in the background of the discord between the two countries."