28 Mar 2024
Tuesday 10 December 2013 - 09:39
Story Code : 70421

Independence key to Iranian foreign policy

Although the world powers have reached anuclear deal with Iran, the thorniest disputebetween Iran and the United States remainsIran's claimto itsright to enrich uranium, which the United States insists does not exist for any country. In order for Western critics to appreciate why Iran insists it has the absolute and inalienable right to enrich uranium on its soil under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), perspective on whats currently driving Irans foreign policy behavior is needed.

According toRuhi Ramazani,professor emeritus of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia, the driving force is independence. In his recent book,Independence without Freedom, Ramazaniwho is celebrated among USscholars as the experts expert on Iran and the dean of Iranian foreign policy explores, in his words, what seems to drive Iranianforeign-policy decisionsby trying to place them in the deeper context of what I call Irans 'diplomatic culture,'defined as those values, norms, mores, institutions, modes of thinkingand way of acting that have developed over centuries as a result of Irans diplomatic interaction with other nations, have survived changeand continue to shape Irans foreign policymaking.

According to Ramazani, the United States needs to consider the core expectations of Iranian negotiators. Of primary importance is Irans expectation that the United States willrecognize the way in which Irans foreign policy is fundamentally driven by an undeniable commitment to independence a reality rooted squarely in Irans national identity.

The Persian roots of this country have been impossible to sever, even after thousands of years during which Iran has seen invasion and foreign threats. As Ramazani explains, The invasion of Iran by Alexander of Macedonia and other invasions by such foreign forces as Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Afghansand Iraqis did not deny that sense. Even the Arab invasion did not rob Iran of its Persian identity. In contrast to nearby Egypt, instead of accepting the Arabization of its national community, Iran cameto embrace Shiism, which is more in keeping with Zoroastrianism and thus bettersuited to the Iranian nationalism that was already in place.

This nationalism is far-reaching, embedded in the identity of not only the most conservative and religious civilians, but alsosecular and progressive politicians. For proof of this, consider what took place in 1979, when Mehdi Bazargan was appointed by Ayatollah RuhollahKhomeini as Irans provisional prime minister. Considered a significant democratic and liberal figurehead of the revolution, Bazargan was at odds with the radical religious leaders at the time includingAyatollah Khomeini himself throughout the progression of the revolution. However, Bazargan made it a top priority to end the shah regimes de facto alliance with the United States in order to establish equality between the two countries. This foreign policy principle of equilibrium dates back to the mid-1800s, when it first entered the Iranian foreignpolicy sphere via Mirza Taqi Khan (better known as Amir Kabir) during his premiership. The opposite of Europes balance-of-power principle, equilibrium aims to facilitate Irans independence through both nonalignment and impartiality among long-standing imperial rivals such asBritain and Russia.

Through his nonalignment policy, Bazargan believed that Irans policy toward these great powers, to use his words, should be the same as the policy of MohammedMossadegh, better known as the policy of 'negative equilibrium.'" In its time, Mossadeghs nonalignment policy attempted to encourage Iranian independence through the termination of British dominance. In this same vein, Bazargan hoped to quell Americas influence through the dissolution of the US-shah alliance.

These values are no less important today. This could be observed most notably when, in 2009, Iranian Green Movement leader MirHossein Mousavi stood behind a platform that included an openness to negotiation and an increase of both civil liberties and privatization for Iranian citizens. Alongside this, Mousavi was clear and direct in his refusal to accept the marginalization of Irans right to pursue nuclear energy, particularly at a time when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was interested in signing an agreement that would allow for most of Irans stockpile of low-enriched uranium to be converted to nuclear fuel abroad. Mousavi criticized such a deal, insisting that the hard work of thousands of scientists would be ruined. However, Mousavis ideas were far from revolutionary.In fact, they closely mirrored Ahmadinejads own foreign policy approach and undeniable commitment to independence, rooted deeply within Irans national identity.

Therefore, it is wrongly assumed by the international community, particularly in the West, that hard-line politicians are leading the charge in terms of confrontation, whereasmoderate leaders are champions of conciliation abroad. According toIndependence without Freedom, this is not the case, at least not in terms of Irans diplomatic culture. Like elsewhere around the globe, those in the position of determining foreign policy do so in response to what the present situationdictates without the context of each particular circumstance, it becomes difficult to parse how its possible for todays moderates [to] become tomorrows radicals, especially where independence is concerned.

Under the international NPT, Iran continues to argue that nuclear enrichment is an inalienable right, and to undermine this right is to cross a red line in regard to its global independence. In blatantly opposing this position, the United States has offended Iran, which of course makes the countrys leaders no more likely to bow to political pressure on this matter than it has in the past. (President Barack Obama did sayon Dec. 7, that Iran could be allowed a modest enrichment program with strict monitoring.)

Though perhaps outwardly influenced by Western ideals, Irans foundation reflects a Persian-Shiite Islamic core. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, during which AyatollahKhomeinibilled independence as a tenet even above Islam, Iranian identity has been grounded in this independence. In the intervening decades, Iran has successfully evaded the intrusion of any other major international power on its political and foreign decision-making process, and that seems unlikely to change any time soon.

By Al Monitor

 

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