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<\/p>\r\nWith an analytical and policy-oriented approach, the recently published book \u201cIran\u2019s Regional Policy in Time\u201d, authored by Dr. Kayhan Barzegar, focuses on the aims and principles of Iran\u2019s national and security interests, explaining how and why Iran\u2019s regional policy has been consistent in the course of the time.<\/p>\r\n
The book\u2019s main argument is that the most significant principle of Iran\u2019s regional policy in recent decades has been to tackle the existing security threats, as well as establishing stability for integrating Iran\u2019s economy with the neighbourhood region, thereby guaranteeing the survival of the \u201cstate\u201d of Iran and paving the way for strengthening the country\u2019s national power.<\/p>\r\n
In the introduction of the book, the author writes that: Now in the spring of 2019 that our country is under severe economic sanctions and political pressures from the Trump administration, Iranian statesmen have reached the decision that resisting against the US policy is necessary for encountering a \u201cgreater security threat\u201d for the \u201cstate\u201d of Iran, that is the threat of internal destabilization and the nation\u2019s polarization.<\/p>\r\n
Therefore, Iran reaches this conclusion that it must enhance the level of its national power and in this regard there is a strong relation between the strengthening of Iran\u2019s power and its regional activities in terms of deterring the threats and creating economic opportunities.<\/p>\r\n
The book studies the course of Iran\u2019s regional policy in the time of Iran\u2019s moderate president Hassan Rouhani, since 2013. In this era, the two main subjects of Iran\u2019s foreign policy has been the conduct of the nuclear deal with world powers, known as the JCPOA, and Iran\u2019s regional policy.<\/p>\r\n
With Trump\u2019s withdrawal from the JCPOA, and European countries incapability or unwillingness to meet their commitments under the deal so far, the positive mood of establishing increased relations with Western countries is gradually fading away in Iran. The West\u2019s policy on challenging Iran\u2019s regional activities and limiting its missile program has further focused Iran\u2019s policy on the necessity of strengthening its deterrent power (hard and soft) and benefiting from economic opportunities in the region. Iran concludes that the main goal of the West and its regional allies is to weaken Iran\u2019s national power from inside. This dynamic itself increased a kind of disappointment and distrust towards improved relations with the West in Iran\u2019s public, subsequently changing Iranians \u2018view of the significance of the country\u2019s national security issues and strengthening deterrent power.<\/p>\r\n
Such situation is unique in Iran\u2019s contemporary history that national security issues and the country\u2019s regional conducts are greatly affecting Iran\u2019s domestic politics. Prior to this, it was more domestic dynamics that shaped Iran\u2019s foreign policy orientations. For instance, the tendency to increased international interactions and economic progress through lifting international sanctions changed the country\u2019s domestic discourse, providing the grounds for the moderate government of Hassan Rouhani to come to office.<\/p>\r\n
<\/p>\r\n
Yet, with the change in Western policy, Iran\u2019s foreign policy priority focused further on regional connectivity and benefiting from its geopolitical advantages, essentially counting on itself.<\/p>\r\n
Evidences show that this understanding would not change Iran\u2019s core regional policy in the course of the time and only leads the country to redefine its national security strategies to adjust its status in the changing regional balance of power. In this regard, the author of the book focuses on the two main elements of \u201capplied history\u201d and \u201cdynamic geography\u201d to demonstrate the significance of this \u201cconsistency\u201d in Iran\u2019s regional policy in context of the time.<\/p>\r\n
In current situation, Iran realizes that the most effective regional policy would be to define a few macro principles in its foreign policy conducts and then based on the local geopolitical characteristics regularize its individual relations with neighboring state in a by-lateral or trilateral approach.<\/p>\r\n
<\/p>\r\n
Iran Front Page
1 August 2019<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_audio_file":"","_duration_audio_file":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28377,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24111\/revisions\/28377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurica.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}