Transcendent Policy

Transcendent Policy

Challenges of Iran’s Nuclear Diplomacy in International Politics

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Ali Adib neeia 1
Asghar Partovi 2
Abolfazl Lotfi 2
1 PhD., Student, Public Policy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
10.22034/sm.2023.1990024.2037
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the security, strategic, economic, and geopolitical challenges faced by the Islamic Republic of Iran in the context of nuclear diplomacy on the international stage. The research employs a descriptive-analytical method and draws upon the theory of structural realism. It appears that international politics has centered its behavior on countering Iran’s nuclear capability development, resulting in economic restrictions, international pressures, and security confrontations with Iran. The balancing behavior of international actors aimed at limiting Iran’s national power and nuclear capability is primarily exercised through diplomacy and multilateral policies of major powers. The coalition of transnational actors represents one of the realities of international politics, manifesting in the strategic rationality of cooperative engagement among major powers as they interact competitively to constrain peripheral actors. This dynamic is generally based on indicators of balancing behavior, participatory action, multilateral cooperation, and regional balancing. Iran’s nuclear diplomacy challenges have been shaped by elements of U.S. coercive diplomacy, European balancing strategies, and structural cooperation with China and Russia. Such a process indicates that the structure of the international system employs relatively unified tools, institutions, and motivations for constraining Iran. International institutions often serve as effective tools for implementing coercive diplomacy against regional actors. President Trump’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) did not elicit any practical response from influential global actors to restrain the United States’ unilateralist mechanisms. This process reflects the reality that international politics functions predominantly as an effective instrument for major powers to limit the capabilities and resistance of regional actors. The prolonged stagnation of the JCPOA reflects the reality that the United States’ compliance with norms has not materialized, even under President Joseph Biden’s administration, leaving Iran confronted with uncertainty and geopolitical ambiguity.
Keywords
Nuclear Diplomacy
International Politics
National Security
JCPOA
Foreign Policy
افتخار جهرمی، گودرز؛ حاجیانی، علی(1395). دیپلماسی هسته‌ای جمهوری اسلامی ایران و نظارت‌پذیری شورای امنیت. سیاست جهانی، 5(3).
انتصار، نادر؛ افراسیابی، کاوه (1395). ماراتن مذاکرات هسته‌ای. ترجمه سعید جعفری و روح‌الله فقیهی. تهران: نشر قومس.
بیات، محمود (1385). دیپلماسی دیجیتالی. انتشارات مرکز چاپ و انتشارات وزارت امورخارجه.
جمشیدی، محمد (1394). تاثیر فرآیند توافق هسته‌ای بر ادراک آمریکا از عقلانیت راهبردی ایران. پژوهش‌های راهبردی سیاست، 4(15).
دلاورپور اقدم، مصطفی (1387). ایران هسته‌ای نمادی در برابر نظام هژمونیک. تهران: دفتر مطالعات سیاسی.
روحانی، حسن (1390). دیپلماسی هسته‌ای و امنیت ملی. تهران: انتشارات مرکز تحقیقات استراتژیک مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام.
ظریف، محمدجواد؛ سجادپور، سیدمحمدکاظم (1387). دیپلماسی چندجانبه. انتشارات وزارت امورخارجه، ج1.
واتسون، آدام (1385). دیپلماسی. ترجمه سید داود آقایی و لیلی گل‌افشان. تهران: انتشارات نسل نیکان.
Afrasiabi, K. (1995). Islamic Populism. Telos. no. 104.
Amuzegar, J. (2006). Nuclear Iran: Perils and Prospects. Middle East policy, 13(2): p. 9-31.
Entessar, N. (2009). Iran’s Nuclear Decision-Making Calculus. Middle East policy, 16(2): p. 26-38.
Halevay, E. (2015). Obama was right, Iran capitulated. Y net news.   
URL= https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4644691,00.html
Hicks, K. & Dalton, M. (2017). Deterring Iran after the Nuclear Deal. Washington: Center for Strategic & International Studies.
International Crisis Group (2017). Implementing the Iran Nuclear Deal: A Status Report. Middle East Report, no.173.
Joyner, D. (2016). Iran’s Nuclear Program and International Law; From Confrontation to Accord. London: Oxford University Press.
Khajehpour, B. (2014). Iran’s Budget Tackles Falling Oil Prices. Al-Monitor.    
URL= https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2014/12/1394-budget-iran-economy.html
Kissinger, H. & Shultz, G. (2015). The Iran Deal and its Consequences. Wall Street Journal.          
URL= https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-iran-deal-and-its-consequences-1428447582
Krasner, S. (1978). Defending the national Interest: Raw Materials Investments and U.S. Foreign Policy. Princeton. NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pollack, K. (2013). Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb and American Strategy. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Sanger, D. (2012). Confront and conceal. New York: Random House.
Snyder, G. (2002). World Offensive Realism and the Struggle for Security. International Security, 27(1).
Varasteh, M. (2013). Understanding Iran’s National Security Doctrine. Leicester, UK: Troubador Publishing Ltd.
Waltz, K. (2012). Why Iran Should Get the Bomb. Foreign Affairs, 91(4).