Strategic Study of US Foreign Policy in Iraqi Kurdistan and National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran

The United States foreign policy and strategy in the Iraqi Kurdistan has been a constant concern for Iraq’s neighboring countries, including Iran, Turkey and Syria. Assessment of the US Foreign policy in the strategic region of Iraqi Kurdistan becomes more important in view of the impact of those policies and resultant developments in Kurdish areas on Iran, Turkey and Syria. The main goal of this paper is to conduct a strategic research based on factors determining US foreign policy in northern Iraq from 2003 to 2011 (including subject of decisions, officials involved, the process and implementation of decisions, and their results) and review the impact of those policies on the national security of Iran. Using an analytical-descriptive method, this study will try to answer the following questions. What strategic goal is pursued by US foreign policy in the Iraqi Kurdistan? What are positive or negative consequences of those policies on the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran? The findings show that the US foreign policy in Iraqi Kurdistan is vacillating between “minimal maximums” and “maximal minimums” as well as between rational and satisfactory decision-making models. This foreign policy does not necessarily end in the adoption of a suitable strategy accompanied with suitable policies and tactics and is full of ambiguities and contradictions. The contradictions result from complex system of decision-making in the United States and adoption of domestic, regional and international approaches in the heterogeneous political environment of Iraq. Finally, these strategies have had minimal effects on the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.