Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs200882211420151101Editorial Note123363ENMahmoud VaeziSeyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpourmfa.gov.ir/portal/oJournal Article19700101A new English language quarterly is making its debut. The journal, launched by the Institute for Strategic Research, an affiliate of the Center for Strategic Research, as the title indicates, is an Iranian journal geared to reflecting on major issues of foreign relations – and foreign policy – of Iran. In the opening pages of the journal premier, a few words on our mission, vision – and even to some reasonable degree – of our ambitions for the future are in order.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs200882211420151101Iran-China Relations: An Overview of Critical Factors123381ENMohsen SahriatiniaJournal Article19700101Iran-China bilateral relations, established in 1971, have experienced quite substantial change in the post-1979 period, especially since the end of the Cold War. Both countries, despite fundamental differences in ideology and governance structure, and based on a number of areas of commonality, most prominently similar international outlook as developing states of the South, and based on mutual need in economic fields, most notably energy, and also in the military field, chose to expand their relations in various areas. The present article looks into the development of these bilateral relations since early 1980s and discusses two sets of factors that have impacted them; conducive factors and constraining factors. The article argues that while the conducive factors have contributed to the expansion and deepening of Tehran-Beijing relations during the period under review, China’s grand strategy towards becoming a world power and the requisite policy of rapprochement with the West, the U.S. in particular, have in fact intervened to constrain China’s relations with other states – among them, Iran. Simultaneously, perpetuation of a state of tension between Iran and the U.S. in the post-1979 period, and especially since 2003 over the nuclear issue, and hence, U.S. pressure of sorts on China, have also played a critical role in complicating Iran-China relations. China’s support since 2006 for the UN Security Council sanctions resolutions on Iran, despite Iran’s emphasis on the “Look to the East Policy” since 2005, has reflected the Chinese predicament and served to constrain the relations, even to some extent in the energy field. The article concludes that notwithstanding inevitable constraints in Iran-China relations due to the factors involved, both countries will continue to maintain their relations in the economic and energy fields and on international-multilateral issues of mutual interest.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs200882211420151101Iran-GCC Relations under President Ahmadinejad: 2005-2009123382ENMohammad Hossein HafezianJournal Article19700101The election of Mahmood Ahmadinejad in Iran in June 2005 came to have an enormous impact on Iran’s foreign relations, including Iran’s relations with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The present article looks into the state and dynamism of bilateral relations between Iran and the GCC during the 2005-09 period. Placed in the context of the background of relations between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and specifically the 8 years of confidence-building and détente under Khatami, the article discusses the factors that affected these bilateral relations during the period under review. It is argued that such factors as Ahmadinejad’s peculiar foreign policy outlook and discourse, relations with the U.S., diverging postures towards Israel, threat perceptions, Iran’s rising regional stature and influence in the post-2001 period, and also dispute on the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf and the name of the waterway, have each affected the state of relations. The review also shows the resilience of economic and trade ties between the two sides beyond the mere political realm and the outstanding issues and disagreements. Considering the inevitable negative impact of the continuing tension and conflict between Iran and the U.S. on the state of relations between Iran and the GCC, the paper emphasizes the imperative of confidence-building measures and policies by all the parties concerned – within the region and beyond. It concludes that any meaningful improvement – and ultimate rapprochement – in the U.S.-Iran relations, even though far-fetched or illusive at the time, would help these relations and the mutually-beneficial establishment of regional security arrangements in the Persian Gulf.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs200882211420151101Iran- Saudi Relations: Past Pattern, Future Outlook123383ENHossein SadeghiHassan AhmadianJournal Article19700101The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran which led to the emergence of a revolutionary, anti-Western, anti-establishment regime under the tutelage of Shi’ite ulema radically changed the previous state of relations with Saudi Arabia, a conservative, Sunnite, pro-West monarchy and junior partner of the defunct Pahlavi State in the security system in the Persian Gulf. The present article intends to look into the state of bilateral relations between the two countries since 1979. The article argues that the relations between these two important Muslim and regional countries have been affected by their constant rivalry in a number of fields considered critical to both of them. As analyzed here, the contest between them in all these areas have been conducted in a rather limited manner, and that both sides have exercised restraint to avoid spiraling into “unlimited contest.” The “limited nature” of contest in fact allowed gradual reduction of tension between them and led to détente and even expansion of cooperation in late 1990s. The détente period came to an abrupt end in the wake of the traumatic aftershocks of 9/11, particularly the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Having looked into the afore-mentioned dominant pattern of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 1979, the authors posit that adoption and pursual of a positive, proactive approach by the two sides and reliance on confidence-building measures can indeed help diffuse the on-going tension and mutual suspicion and pave the way for the promotion of mutually-beneficial policies and measures. In their analysis, the two sides, despite all the differences and difficulties, enjoy the potentials to decide to explore practical ways and means on how to define shared interests, goals and objectives.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs200882211420151101Shi‘i Studies and the Islamic Republic of Iran: Claiming Islam Back to its Own History123384ENRaffaele MaurielloJournal Article19700101Barack Obama’s message to the Iranian people and government on the occasion of Nowruz 1388 (2009) and the appointment of Vali Nasr earlier the same year as Senior Advisor to the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan arguably marked a turning point in the US foreign policy vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Shi‘as at large; indicating an enhanced role for Shi‘i Studies in shaping American foreign policy.. However, a number of European and American historians of Islam have endeavored for quite some time to inform both the Western governments and the general public that there is the necessity to distinguish between Islam as an “object” of study within the framework of the history of religions and Islam as a political phenomenon – and therefore as an object of study for the political scientist. The present article, drawing on the writer’s understanding of some implications of a recent work of synthesis about the history of the academic historiography concerning Shi‘i Islam by the Italian Shi‘itologist/historian Biancamaria Scarcia Amoretti (November 2010), addresses the implications of the post-1979 re-interpretation of Shi‘i history in political terms. It argues that in the crisis in the relations between the West and Muslim societies two alternative approaches are conceivable. Either it is assumed that Islam as a religion has little to do with the crisis and that this is the result of geo-politics, political interests, and economic competition among states (Graham 2010), or alternatively, that Islam is in fact the relevant issue at stake, in which case it calls for a serious, scholarly discussion of Islam, primarily as a religion, and hence, a matter of theology and history.Institute for Strategic Research, Department of Foreign AffairsIranian Review of Foreign Affairs200882211420151101Roundtable Report123385ENJournal Article19700101On 19 October 2010 a two-session roundtable was held at the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) with the participation of a delegation from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). The SWP delegation, a guest of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) – the Foreign Ministry’s think tank - engaged with Iranian experts in a wide-ranging discussion on Iran–EU relations as well as on regional issues of common interest. In the first session on regional issues, the war in Afghanistan and the Middle East peace process were discussed.