EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF DIASPORIC ACTIONS ON IRAN S FOREIGN POLICY; A CASE STUDY OF IRANIAN DIASPORA RESIDING IN U.S

Diaspora communities have influenced world affairs and host and/or homeland foreign policies in numerous ways including active, passive, constructive and destructive ways. This study is aimed at evaluating the influence of Iranian diaspora communities on the foreign policy of Iran with a focus on the Iranian diaspora residing in the United States. To reach this goal, the conceptual model of Shain and Barth (2003) has been applied. Findings of the research show that there is an asymmetric balance of power between Iranian diaspora communities and the Islamic Republic of Iran in favor of homeland. Therefore, Iranian diaspora communities have little influence on Iran’s foreign policy. In the other word, among the variables affecting this balance of power, only “Iran’s relative weakness in economy” has to some extent smoothed diaspora’s path to influence foreign policy of Iran. And the other four variables including “Ideological strength”, “Impermeability”, “incoherency of the Iranian diaspora” and “the concern of the Islamic Republic of Iran about the Iranian diaspora” impede the effect of the Iranian diaspora communities on Iran’s foreign policy.