Iran's Foreign Policy - Essay Example

IRAN’S FOREIGN POLICY Iran’s foreign policy Name Institution Introduction The foreign policy of Iran was drastically altered soon after the Second World War. The Iranian leaders sought to strengthen their relations with the United States of America as a way of counteracting the intensive political blackmail from their Russian counterparts. They also enhanced their relations as a way of legitimate acceptance of the outcomes of the War. The United States capitalized on their improving relations with Iran to impose their policies and influences on Iran. The strong concern of the United States in the Iranian affairs attracted a lot of distrust and suspicion from other Anti-American revolutionists who capitalized on it to rise up to power. The US seemed to support certain regimes and did everything to ensure they remained in power to continue with their control over Iran. Despite the strong conviction by the US diplomats of America’s intentions, there was still so much suspicion. It took the efforts of die-hard insurgents who were in for eliminating anything that pertained to the US in Iran by first directly attacking the US embassy in 1979. With a massive support, the old regime of Mohammad Reza was successfully removed out of power and replaced with a new regime of revolutionists. There was extensive awareness among the Iranian political elites of the US intentions in Iran. Thereafter, the diplomatic relations between the US and Iran have been on the decline. Iran’s foreign policy has raised many global concerns with the US and other developed nations putting sanctions on the Iran’s nuclear energy projects with a progressive enrichment of their Uranium resources (US Library of Congress, 1999). In the recent past, Iran has been trying to rise to regional superiority by declaring a sequence of major bilateral investment in the neighboring countries like Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. After rising to power, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, his two key goals were to form as many alliances as possible and device a way of dealing with the security sanctions posed on the country by the United States. Iran is currently building up emblematic alliances with the neighbors to strengthen their forces and therefore resist the intense external pressure being put on it especially by the United States. Iran’s intention is to come out as a regional super-power that can be fulfilled by forming long-lasting relations with the neighboring countries. This would in turn help them decrease the US influence over the Middle East countries and most probably stop the sanctions meted against the by both the EU and the US. There is also a conflict of interest between Iran and Turkey that are competing to gain regional superiority. For instance, Turkey has been on the forefront in ensuring peace in Southern Caucasus. Iran, on the other hand, is trying by all means the US does not establish a military base in Caucasus by building alliances with Georgia and other neighboring countries. Iran has been seeking the support of Arab countries like Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is already clear that the US has strong interests in the Middle East countries and Iraq in particular. Iran, on the other hand, is also interested in gaining control over the region. As the US and some EU countries impose pressure on them, Iran is seeking for ways on how it will achieve equilibrium between the security threats posed against it and pursuing its political and economic interests. This explains why Iran worked hand in hand with the US in ensuring peace in Afghanistan. Iran is also actively involved in the Iraq politics whereby it supporting some religious factions. This is despite the fact that the US has always worked hard to keep Iran out of the Iraq affairs at all costs. Iran has also declared its support for Iraq government and on several occasions seen cooperating with the US in maintaining peace and stability in Iraq (US Library of congress, 1999). The Iran’s foreign policy has been greatly influenced by the US policy concerning the Middle East region and Iran’s position in such policies. Iran has always been suspicious of the United States’ actions in the region. It will be incomplete looking at the Iran foreign policy without looking at the Iraq-Iran war. The similar conditions Iran is experiencing are similar to what led to the Iran-Iraq war, conflict of interest in the region. Iran’s cooperation with the regional countries in maintaining peace and stability also serves as a stern warning to the respective regional countries of the risks involved in collaborating with the US. Iran is surrounded by unstable neighboring countries like the Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Caucasus, and the unstable Persian Gulf. All these areas need security, which can be used by the US to advance their insurgency on Iran in the name of maintaining peace in the unstable countries. What Iran is trying to do is ensure that the US does not establish stronger military stations in such countries because that might be the beginning of their attack. To ensure safety therefore, Iran is actively participating in the restoration and maintenance of peace in these unstable countries, which then indirectly translates into its own security. However, Iran is incurring so much cost in ensuring security of the region as compared to the gains it gets as a result of such activities. Currently, Iran is seeking to mend the severely damaged relations with some of its initial political allies like Syria and Lebanon. The foreign policy of Iran therefore is after bringing up political unity and solidarity among the regional countries. All these actions are dictated by the US invasion of Iran’s neighboring countries and the frequent security threats from the US. However, Iran’s active role in peace keeping in the region has always attracted envy from the western world. For instance, Iran is currently relating it nuclear projects to the regional affairs. By responding to the various issues pertaining to the region, Iran is continuously gaining support from the other regional countries. Iran’s security is much more dependent on the regional security and vice versa. Therefore, the establishment of alliances with the regional countries will ensure solidarity and bring long-term security to the region. Since Iran has shown its determination in maintaining peace in the region, the other neighboring countries have no otherwise other than supporting the Iranian policies as another way of ensuring their own security. If by any chance Iran is attacked, the other regional countries would be of no exception and hence their peace and security will be greatly compromised (Kayhan, 2010). It is also worth noting that Iran is seeking for a fair balance of interests between it and the United States. By taking leadership role in the region in solving the regional affairs, Iran has had the opportunity of gaining experience for its military and even as an economic super-power in the region. The establishment of the nuclear energy plants and the subsequent involvement in Uranium enrichment by Iran has led to a direct collision of interest between the United States and Iran. Therefore, there is a dire need for negotiations between the two countries. Iran is advocating for a win-win deal hence lead to a balance of interest between the respective countries. Despite the political turmoil and disagreement among the Iranian elites as a result of the 2009 highly disputed elections, there is still no way the US can capitalize on that to create divisions and further their interests in Iran. The political controversies are only internal but the issue of nuclear energy seems to be a uniting factor of not only the political elites of Iran but also the entire region at large. Iran is currently using a defensive mechanism in ensuring its own security and safeguards its interests in the region. Iran’s refusal to stop uranium enrichment is basically due to their suspicion of the US hence the Uranium project is being used as both an avenue for negotiations and for defensive purposes (Kayhan, 2010). The United States and European Union has vowed to engage in tougher sanctions against Iran’s uranium enrichment. However, China has withdrawn from the operation. This gives Iran an upper hand for negotiations instead. The Iranian government has always insisted that United States needs to change their foreign policy for the Middle East if at all they expect any considerable change in the Iran’s nuclear activities. They prefer the US to adopt a different policy that would push for equal sharing of interest among all the interested parties in the region’s resources. Therefore, the nuclear program tends to be a unifying factor for both countries. The opening of negotiations is seen as a gateway towards the sharing of the other many issues that have stirred up conflicts between the two countries. Iran is aware of the United States’ interests in the region and how difficult it is for the United States to withdraw its interests from the region and that is why, as mentioned earlier, is advocating for a win-win deal that has not received any acceptance from the United States so far. This is why Iran continuously insists on the United States’ review of their foreign policies towards the Middle East so as to provide room for negotiations and subsequently lead to their sharing of interests. Through their policy of interconnected security, Iran is very sensitive to the threats being posed against it by the United States and other EU countries. This policy involves winning the support of the neighboring regional countries hence increasing their security. This was as a result of the United States extending their influence to the borders of Iran hence posing a greater danger on Iran’s security. The regional support of the Iran’s nuclear power and Uranium enrichment has been a hindrance to the United States policy of causing divisions in the region and using the neighboring countries as an avenue for attacks (Kayhan, 2010). Looking at the past, Iran, immediately after the Islamic revolution, opted to adopt an accommodating policy that sought to strengthen their relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia while ignoring their deteriorating relations with regional countries like Lebanon, Syria and factions like Hezbollah. However, with the rise of Ahmadinejad to power, things have drastically changed. Contrary to his predecessors, he changed their foreign policy and now Iran focuses on mending their relations with their regional allies. This was meant to bring them together and make them share their scores together including the nuclear power production and the Uranium enrichment. In the past, Iran’s relations with Iraq were very fragile and they used not to agree because they blamed each other for poking into each one’s affairs. The conflicts continued for quite some time until the 1980 when everything turned out for the worse. The two countries engaged into a furious were that attracted international concerns. Iran was backing up the insurgent Kurdish militia in Iraq hence making Iraq to embark on a serious attack on Iran. Similar to the United States- Iran wrangles, there was a conflict of interest over the Persian Gulf. The war continued until the United States and other European countries especially Germany started supplying Iraq with the deadly chemical weapon. Iran decided to bring to an end the war and insisted the withdrawal of the Iraq soldiers from Iran. Iran then accepted to sign the UN Security Council resolution 598. It was from this time that Iran realized it was desolate and without friends. It relations with the other neighboring countries had worsened after the Islamic Revolution. It was then that they reviewed their foreign policy and focused on restoring their relations with their initial allies. Currently, especially after the overthrow of Saddam, Iran is anxiously seeking to restore and strengthen their relations with the long time enemies, Iraq. By supporting security and peace in Iraq, Iran is seeking to establish new friendships with Iraq. In this thesis, I shall vividly examine the foreign policy for Iran by tracing the political history of the country from before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. I shall also give pre-eminence on the factors affecting Iran’s foreign policy (Foreign Policy, 2010). References Foreign Policy (2010, September 20). Iran’s near abroad. Retrieved from http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/09/20/irans_near_abroad Kayhan, B. (2010). Iran’s foreign policy strategy after Saddam. The Washington Quarterly, 33(1), 173-189 US Library of congress (1999, October23). Government and Politics of Iran. Retrieved from http://countrystudies.us/iran/99.htm Read More