Document Type : Original Article from Result of Thesis
Highlights
Inrroduction
Although Russia's position in the world power structure weakened after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, this new actor, as the primary heir of the great superpower of the Eastern Bloc, gained permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council and veto power. Russia is also an essential member of the Governing Council of the International Atomic Energy Agency. On the other hand, nuclear knowledge is one of the most controversial energy sources and thus the acquisition of this knowledge is taken as a strategic matter among the experts. This knowledge opens the doors to economic development and has a more significant influence on the international system. This can be examined as a multidimensional issue when it comes to Iran: (A) The gradual depletion of fossil resources and the need for alternative energies, such as nuclear and solar; (B) Nuclear knowledge, as the most advanced knowledge, is essential for various economic, industrial, and pharmaceutical fields, and thus it is a necessary science not only for Iran but also for all developing countries. Given Iran's geopolitical, geostrategic, and geo-economics conditions, as well as its achievement in acquiring nuclear knowledge as indigenous, domestic, and peaceful knowledge will have tremendous effects on Iran's foreign policy and its relations with other countries in the region and other parts of the world. On the other hand, Russia is a full-fledged nuclear power, follows a revisionist policy, and opposes the unilateralism of the United States and the unipolar system. On the other hand, the United States opposes Iran's behavior in the region and the world. These facts offer many analytical topics to researchers. Given these issues, the main research question is how Russia's position in the world power structure has affected Iran's nuclear issue from 1995 to 2021. The hypothesis that answers this question also states, "Russia's decisions on Iran's nuclear issue have shifted from the spectrum of Westernism to Putin's Eurasianism based on its foreign policy discourses. As a result, Russia's position has prominent effects on Iran's nuclear issue.”
The presented study adopted a descriptive-analytical design to investigate this hypothesis by analyzing Russia's behavior and discourse. Theoretically, the behavioral bases of the foreign policy of great powers show the role of different domestic, regional, and global factors in this matter. In this regard, getting to know the practical elements of Russia's foreign policy as an influential player in Iran's nuclear case is crucial. Therefore, the structural realism theory can be used to explain Russia's behavior toward Iran's nuclear issue.
Iran's nuclear case has been one of the critical issues for all major powers in the last two decades. In this regard, Russia's behavior is more critical due to its nuclear technical cooperation with Iran. Therefore, it is essential to understand Russia's foreign policy towards Iran's nuclear program, mainly to analyze its positions in the IAEA Board of Governors, the Security Council, and the 5+1 negotiations. It is also necessary to explore this issue in a general framework. In other words, to understand Russia's behavior, Russia's foreign policy doctrine and where Iran stands in it should be addressed. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, Russia pursued the policy of alignment with the Euro-Atlantic discourse and agendas. In subsequent discourses of Russia's foreign policy, we have witnessed the paradoxical behavior of Russia by increasing cooperation with Iran's nuclear program and the West. With Putin's alignment with Eurasianism, particularly since 2012, a gradual increase in Russia's support for Iran's nuclear program is seen.
The current crisis in Ukraine has been one of the most crucial factors in negotiations to lift the sanctions against Iran in Vienna because the parties involved in Iran's nuclear negotiations are also engaged in the Ukraine crisis. Therefore, Iran's negotiating team should try to prevent parties from pushing Vienna negotiations to the sidelines and misleading them. Since the onset of the Ukraine crisis increased the oil and gas, and Russia is the leading supplier of gas to Europe, continuing this war can deepen Europe's energy crisis. Therefore, the involvement of Iran at this time as one of the leading suppliers of gas in the world can increase its bargaining power in favor of national interests and even an opportunity to export gas to Europe. The balancing power factors should favor Tehran and highlight Iran's role as a supplier of European energy to reduce the pressures from the West.
Moreover, the West responded to Russia's attack on Ukraine by imposing sanctions. It is also predicted that the economic and political pressures against Russia will be maximized, strengthening the relationship between Iran and Russia. It can partially open Russian markets to Iranian products. All in all, Russia's political, economic, and military capabilities have made it one of the influential powers in the structure of the international system. The Islamic Republic of Iran can exploit the advantage of this opposition to American unilateralism to confront the West. It can also achieve significant nuclear progress in cooperation with Russia to the extent that its position within the global power structure is improved and will have a more influential role in regional and international developments.
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