Iran's Security Concerns in the Persian Gulf

Authors

Dariush Zahedi
Ahmad Ghoreishi

Abstract

This article will analyze the ideological stances, and the factors affecting them, of Iran's key political decision makers and their factional affiliations in order to ascertain Iran's stategic and foreign policy objectives in the Persian Gulf region. It will argue that the parameters of lran's security intentions in the Gulf are shaped in large measure by the prevailing socioeconomic conditions within Iran, the country's military capabilities, the absence of influential allies, the United States presence in the Gulf, and Iran's paradoxical, historical sense of superiority and vulnerability. Operating within, and largely in response to, these parameters are the subjective forces, the individuals who formulate Iran's foreign policy.

Recommended Citation

Zahedi, Dariush and Ghoreishi, Ahmad (1996) "Iran's Security Concerns in the Persian Gulf," Naval War College Review: Vol. 49: No. 3, Article 5.
Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol49/iss3/5