Iran's Neutrality in Kuwait Occupation Crisis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 School of International Relations

2 Tarbiat Modares

Abstract

A notable number of international relations analysts believe that Iranian foreign policy is based merely on ideological considerations. The present study aims to reject this claim by assessing the policy of neutrality Iran embraced during the Kuwait Occupation Crisis via a descriptive-analytical approach. This article seeks to find an answer to the question of how and why did Iran take a neutral stance in the mentioned crisis? According to the results, the subtle combination of ideological and rational behaviors of the foreign policy decision-makers led to maintaining the territorial integrity of the country and also the re-gaining of economic and military capabilities after the IranIraq war. Findings also show that while some cognitive factors might have affected the secondary goals in the first stage, it never put the national security of the country at risk. Furthermore, after filtering the information, the ultimate decision could lead to maximal gain and minimal loss for Iran which was the key to Iran’s regional influence in the past 40 years

Keywords


Article Title [Persian]

تحلیل بی طرفی ایران در بحران اشغال کویت(بر مبنای مدل های تصمیم گیری در روابط بین الملل)

Keywords [Persian]

  • سیاست خارجی
  • تصمیم گیری
  • جمهوری اسلامی ایران
  • سیاست بی طرفی
  • اشغال کویت
in Persian
Barnes, J.1994. Washington's Assault on Iraq: Opening Guns of World War III, Translated by Shohreh Izadi, Tehran: Talayeh Porsoo Publications. 
Boyle, P. G.1995. American-Soviet Relations, Translated by Gholamreza Ali Babaei and Mohammad Rafiei Mehrabadi, Tehran: Institute for Political and International Studies.
Khorram, A. .2016. Interview with Ghodrat Rashidi on November 7th, 2016.
Jafari Vahdani, A. 2018. England's Role in Delimitation of Kuwait and Iraq's Borderlines (According to
Britain's Foreign Office Documents), International Quarterly of Geopolitics, 14th year, Second Issue, pp. 56-82. 
Razzaqi, E. (1998), Introduction to Iran's Economy, Tehran: Ney Publications.
Roghani Zanjani, M. .2004. "Interview by Bahman Ahmadi Amoui", in the Political Economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran: Gamm Publications, pp. 114-233.
Salinger, P. .1991. Secret Dossier: The Hidden Agenda behind the Gulf War, Translated by Mousa Ahmadzadeh, Ettela’at Publications: Tehran, Second Edition.
Salam, Newspaper, March 10th, 1990.
Sadeghi, H. .2018. Interview with Ghodrat Rashidi, December 3rd, 2018. 
Tolouei, M. .1991. The Persian Gulf War and Future of the Middle East, Tehran Publications: Tehran, First Edition. Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Kayhan, Newspaper (August 4th, 1990).
Kayhan, Newspaper (January 20th, 1991).
Kayhan, Newspaper (February 1st, 1991).
Kayhan, Newspaper (February 3rd, 1991).
Mousavian, S. H. .2015. Iran and the United States, a Failed Past and a Path to Reconciliation, Tehran: Teesa Publications.
Mousavian, H., Interview with Ghodrat Rashidi, January 7th, 2020. 
Hashemi Rafsanjani .2011. 12 Letters (the Text of Letters Exchanged between the Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq), Tehran: Enghelab Nashr Maaref Publication Office. 
Hashemi Rafsanjani, A. .2013. Hashemi Rafsanjani's Record and Memoirs, Moderation and Victory, by Emad Hashemi Rafsanjani, Tehran: Enghelab Nashr Maaref Publication Office, First Edition.
Hashemi Esfahani, M., Gorji, E. .2007. “Application of Economic Security Index in Explaining Geopolitical
Developments in the Globalization Process”, International Quarterly of Geopolitics, Third Year, First Issue, pp. 50-74.
Baram,Amatzia .1993. The Iraqi invasion on Kuwait: Decision making in Baghdad, in Iraq s Road to war. edited by Amatzia Baram & Barry Rubin,New York: ST. Martin Press.
Baram, Amatzia .1998. “International Perspectives on the Gulf Conflict 1990-1991” in, Calculation and Miscalculation in Baghdad. edited by Alex Danchev & Dan Keohane, New York: Palgrave Mamillan Press.
Baker, James, Interview in 1996 retrieved 26 November 2018 from https:// www. pbs. org/ wgbh/pages/frontline/gulforal.
Chomsky, Noam(1991),” After the Cold War: U.S. Middle East Policy”, in Beyond the Storm, A Gulf Crisis Reader. edited by Phyllis Bennis & Michael Moushabeck, New York: Olive Branch Press.
Curtis R. Ryan(1998), Jordan and the Rise and Fall of the Arab Cooperation Council, The middle East Journal.
Danchea, Alex & Keohane, Dan.1993. Calculation and Miscalculation in Baghdad. London: Macmillan.
Hajjar, G Samir (2002), U.S. Military Presence in the Gulf: Challenges and Prospects. Washington DC: Strategic Studies Institute.
Khalid Bin Sultan .1994. Desert Warrior. A Personal view of the Gulf War by the Joint Forces Commander, Harper Collind Publishers: London.
Mintz, Alex .2004. How Do leaders Make Decision, A Poliheuristic Perpectives. Journal of Conflict Resolution. Vol 48, No. 1, pp 3-13.
Musallam, Ali .1996. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. London: British Academic Press.
Panaspornprasit, Chookiat .2005. U.S. – Kuwait Relations, 1961 – 1992, An Uneasy Relationship . Routledge: London.
Powell, Colin(1996), interview with PBS, retrieved 26 November 2018 from https:// www. pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulforal
Schwarzkopf, H. Norman.1992. It Doesnot Take a Hero, Linda Grey Bantam Book: New York.
Wesrtad, Arne .1995. The Fall od Détente, Soviet – American Relations during the Carter Years, Scandinavian University Press: Oslo.
Wilson, Abi . 2013. Kissinger and Détente – from Nixon to Ford, Institute of the Americans Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences.
World Bank .1991. Iran, Reconstruction and Economic Growth, retrieved 1 July from www.worldbank.org.