2024-03-29T03:46:35Z
https://irfajournal.csr.ir/?_action=export&rf=summon&issue=16959
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
IRFA
20088221
20088221
2012
3
12
Extreme Securitization: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
Maryam
Javan Shahraki
This paper seeks to address the impact of the Iran-Iraq War, which took place between 1980 and 1988, on Iran-U.S. relations. For Iran, the legacy of the war included the loss of a generation of men—hundreds of thousands died and many more were wounded. It also included the large-scale destruction of many Iranian cities, and especially their industrial infrastructure. During the eight-year war, U.S. foreign policy highly securitized Iran and its Islamic Revolution as an existential threat to world security. Therefore, war is the fundamental fact on which the antagonistic nature of Iran-U.S. relations has been shaped since 1980. Thirty-two years after the Iran-Iraq War, one might think that the mutual and extreme securitization of Iran in U.S. foreign policy might relent. But the narratives have taken on a life of their own, fed by rumor, rhetoric, and mutual threats. One of the greatest challenges will be to try to bridge the gap between the dueling narratives, and suggest realistic approaches that might begin de-securitize Iran-U.S relations, retrieve it from the domain of emergency politics and return it to the sphere of normal politics. Nothing could be more urgent. If the Americans or the Israelis, or both, attack Iran in an effort to destroy its nuclear facilities, the mother of all Iranian stereotypes of the West will seem to a wide sector of the Iranian population to have been confirmed.
U.S. Foreign Policy
Islamic Revolution
IranIraq War
Securitization
desecuritization
2012
11
01
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
IRFA
20088221
20088221
2012
3
12
The Politics of Kirkuk: Policy Implication for Iran
Arman
Salimi
Ghadir
Nasri
The main question this paper seeks to answer is what the legal and political roots of the dispute between Baghdad and Kurds concerning Kirkuk are and what scenarios look more likely in the mid-term future in the region. It is noteworthy that after the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq at the end of 2011 and transferring of responsibilities to the Iraqi forces, a new wave of disputes has evolved among the Iraqi political factions. These disputes along with the new status of Syrian Kurds indicate the appearance of completely new and unprecedented conditions regarding the status of the Kurds. In this relation, the future of Kirkuk and conflict over control of the city represents the most serious controversy among the political actors involved in the governance of Iraq within the past five years. The Kirkuk developments seem to determine the political future of Iraq as well. There are a few scenarios about the future of Kirkuk, the most likely of which includes the establishment of an autonomous Governorate of Kirkuk, considering the political equations and the identity of main actors in the corridors of power in Iraq. The potentials of this scenario in preventing the outbreak of a civil war and the rise of a conflict between the disputing factions will be significant and it will not seriously contradict fundamental Iranian considerations in the region.
Kirkuk
Iraqi Constitution
Iraq
Kurd
Turkmen
Arab
Kurdistan Region
2012
11
01
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
IRFA
20088221
20088221
2012
3
12
The Artificial Islands in the Persian Gulf: A Political and Legal Analysis
Parvin
Dadandish
Hamid
Rahnavard
Artificial islands refer to offshore structures which are constructed by human beings in the territorial sea of nation-states, exclusive economic zones or even the high seas. The right to construct artificial islands has been recognized by international bodies and organizations. In this relation, several legal provisions including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Articles 11, 58, 60 and 82 have clearly provided states with practical guidelines on the construction of such islands. During the past decades, numerous states have expressed interest in construction of such islands and have started building them. In the Persian Gulf region, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been constructing artificial islands since 2001, the first phase of which included three artificial islands in the shape of a palm. The second phase includes the ‘World’ project, which consists of 300 islands in the shape of the Earth’s landmass. Exploring the legal implications of the construction of artificial islands, this research seeks to illuminate the loopholes and possible misuse by states of the existing rules of international law. Then it will analyze the political and legal consequences of the UAE’s construction of artificial islands for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Artificial Islands
Convention on the Law of the Sea
Territorial sea
United Arab Emirates
Political and Legal Consequences
2012
11
01