ORSAM IRAN MEETINGS 2: IRAN FOREIGN POLICY

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On January 20, 2010, a meeting about Iran was organized in ORSAM. Gazi University Department of International Relations Dr. Giray Sadık and Middle Eastern Technical University Department of International Relations Bayram Sinkaya participated in this 2nd meeting of the ORSAN Iran Meetings Series. The meeting was done under the coordination of the ORSAM Senior Adviser Ret. Maj. Gen. Armağan Kuloğlu, under the academic consultancy of Gazi University Department of International Relations Academician Asst. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Şahin and with the participation of the ORSAM Assistant Expert Sercan Doğan.

  The subject of the second ORSAM Iran Meeting was determined as “The Foreign Policy of Iran and its Place in the International System”. At the deep examination of Iran that has an important role in the Middle Eastern balance, the foreign policy of Iran is a significant parameter. That’s why when the discussion subject was the Iraqi policy or the strategic balances in the Persian Gulf, Iran stands out as a non-negligible actor and factor.

In the meeting, the main factors affecting the foreign policy of Iran were discussed. In this context, the discussion was based on determining to what extent the “Radical Islam” was a rhetoric factor and to what extent it is a factor beyond rhetoric. The policy of regime transferring of Iran was evaluated in this sense. Besides that, the geopolitical situation of Iran was dealt as another factor affecting the foreign policy of Iran.

While examining the factors of the foreign policy of Iran, an important approach standing out in the meeting was the necessity of discussing some factors that are beyond the Radical Islamism and geopolitics. In this regard, nationality, Anti-westernism and the ethnic features in Iran were evaluated. After emphasizing the necessity of evaluating the regional policy of Iran in the second session that will be done in the next weeks, the first session was ended.