Ambition and Fear: Iran’s Foreign Policy and Nuclear Programme

Abstract

As the West's nuclear dispute with Iran continues to dominate world headlines, it is easy to forget that Iran's relations with the world are multifaceted and complex. Within its region, Iran's policies are shaped by instabilities in neighbouring countries and the Middle East in general, questions of Persian Gulf security, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and various contests for power and resources. Iran's relations with Europe, as well as with Russia, China, India and other actors in Asia, Africa and Latin America, have long been shaped by economic interests on the one hand and, particularly in the case of Europe, political differences on the other, in addition to the growing influence of the nuclear conflict. Iran's bilateral relations with the United States are themselves far more intricate than they sometimes appear. Commentators trying to find a single doctrine or underlying driver to explain Iran's regional and international policies, as well as its nuclear programme, have traded various possibilities, including Persian imperialism, the export of the revolution, or the religious zeal of Iran's ruling elite. None of these explanations are convincing. Rather, Iran's regional, international and even nuclear policies are driven by a combination of ambition and fear.