arab countries

This issue became doubly important when the Zionist regime and the Arab countries realized a common threat, especially from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the consequences of the process of normalizing the relations of the Zionist regime with the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region and its impact on the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The findings of the article, which were compiled using Stephen Walt's defensive realism theoretical framework (balance of threat) and using the analytical-descriptive method, show that issues such as: Iranophobia, the expansion of the Shiite crescent, the formation of the Islamic Awakening in 2011, the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the missile power of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the gradual withdrawal of American forces from the region, the thoughts of the rulers of Arab countries with regard to their political systems, who see themselves in need of foreign support to strengthen their domestic position; the increasing depth of the Zionist regime's influence in the region in order to retaliate for the presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in its peripheral regions, have all led the rapprochement and establishment of relations between the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region and the Zionist regime, which will undoubtedly change the equations of the Southwest Asia region in various dimensions. These strategic changes will also pose threats to the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Historically and politically, France has always been closely related to the issues of the Middle East. With the announcement of America's strategy in this region, a more suitable opportunity was provided for the entry of middle powers to expand its relations, and France is trying to expand its relations in Middle East according to its foreign policy goals. In this research, the question is that how the French arms trade in Middle East affect the security of the Iran? The expansion of France's military and security relations with the Arab countries of Middle East is, on the one hand, to establish a balance of power between the Arab countries and Israel and prevent the tendency to use weapons of mass destruction with the aim of ensuring the security of the parties. On the other hand, it causes the expansion of the arms race in the region, the expansion of the regional gap and tension between the Arab countries and Iran.Referring to the theory of neoclassical realism, this article states that the continuation of the strengthening of relations between the countries of Middle East with France will intensify insecurities which have negative and destructive effects on the security of Iran.

The present research aims to analyze the course of relations between Persian Gulf Arab countries and Israel, specifically focusing on their transition from divergence to convergence. Drawing upon the system theory, this study explains the development of their relations from divergence to convergence. The findings underscore the significant impact of interaction and interdependence arising from shared challenges and opportunities, leading to convergence in political, economic, and scientific domains. However, it is important to acknowledge that the support and establishment of peaceful relations between these nations have also been influenced by the economic and political interests of major international powers in the West Asian region. If the normalization policy between Persian Gulf countries and Israel is solely driven by external pressures from Western, Hebrew, and Arab statesmen, the prospects for their relations appear bleak. Instead, such a policy could potentially serve as an indicator of potential tensions in future conflicts involving Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. The growing cooperation between Iran and Persian Gulf Arab countries, in comparison to their cooperation with Israel, has the potential to not only balance the convergence but also establish a balance in terms of threats. In other words, for Iran's convergence with Persian Gulf countries in security, politics, and economics to have a significant impact on the international environment (both regionally and globally) and influence the mindset of Arab officials, it must surpass the dependence of Arab countries on Israel and redefine their behavioral boundaries.

Due to its geopolitical weight and potential economic capacity, the country of Iraq is one of the important players in the Middle East region, and despite the change of different political regimes in Iraq since the 1920s, the country's foreign policy has mainly entailed various political and security costs for Iran. But the fall of Saddam in March 2003 caused new geopolitical changes in foreign policy and relations of this country with its neighbors. With the establishment of the new political system in Iraq, regional and extra-regional actors, including Iran and America, have tried to overshadow the decision-making circles in Iraq's foreign policy and have tried to make their behavior appear more legitimate in the eyes of the Iraqi government and society. Leading research, while raising the question that; What are the effective institutions or drivers in the foreign policy of Iraqi governments after 2003 and what are the decisions and direction of Iraq's foreign policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran in the new government of this country? While pointing out the effective circles in the field of Iraq's foreign policy, it tries to analyze the approaches of modern Iraqi foreign policy, especially after the 2021 parliamentary elections towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, in an analytical and descriptive way. The hypothesis of the article is that Iraqi political institutions and structures are the main shapers of foreign policy decisions, and actors like the prime minister are almost the only executors of decisions, and it is this structure that shapes the agent's actions. The findings of the research show that the competition between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States and the actors aligned with them is still ongoing and this process will continue due to the performance and willingness of the new Iraqi decision makers to interact with the United States. In order to theoretically examine the topics, Hilsman's institutional analytical model has been used.

Throughout history, a deep cultural and historical connection has been established between the people of Larestan and the citizens of Persian Gulf Arab countries, and many people of Larestan live in Arab countries or travel to these areas several times a year. These interactions and communications can play a key role in promoting Iran's soft power and serving the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran vis-.-Vis rich Arab countries. Given the importance of this topic, the author of this article tries to answer this question: What is the position and role of Larestani immigrants in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf in increasing soft power and achieving the software goals of Iran's foreign policy towards Arab countries? According to the research hypothesis, due to the trade and commercial relations, as well as the cultural and historical interaction of the people of Lar with these areas, they as an informal channel, can be a determining factor in creating solidarity and common interests between the two parties, creating a positive attitude towards the country of origin and the determination of preferences.

Virtual social media is a new capacity that has changes the conditions of geopolitics in relations between nations. This media has affected life in its many dimensions: political, social, economic, cultural, defense, security, and also international relations, while behavioral models have also simultaneously undergone transformation. Today, a large portion of the function of virtual media takes place on internet, mobile, social media, ...The main goal of this article is to discuss the concept of “national branding”, taking into consideration the policies enacted by Ayatollah Khamenei on maintaining the upper hand, mainly in terms of developing Iran’s cyber capabilities on a global scale, their effect on national interests, in order to gain influence in the Arab world by way of virtual media.In terms of its goal, this is an applied developmental study, of a descriptive nature, using a grounded – case study method (using a mixed approach) and sources from both fieldwork and libraries. The sample size includes 50 experts and pundits on cyberspace and international relations, from Iran and Arab countries.After distributing the questionnaire and receiving the answers by way of SmartPLS, the data was analyzed. The results of this study led to the identification of the dimensions, elements, and indicators of eight components: governance, politics, culture, society, economy, creed, technology, and security/defense, and organized them into the three levels of infrastructure, intelligence, and identification that pertain to virtual media. In the end, the model of choice was a strategic model, using a branding approach based on national interest

The Zionist regime's relations with the Arab countries of the region during the last seven decades can be easily compartmentalized into four distinct periods. Animosity, peace-seeking, covert security and information cooperation, and revealing and extension of both quality and quantity of the relations have been parts of the constant pattern of the Zionist regime's relations with the Arab countries of the region during these four periods of time. During the recent years, influenced by a few factors and circumstances, the Zionist regime tried to seriously continue its quest for normalization of relations with the Arab countries of the region inside the framework of proposals such as "Deal of the Century" (Trump's Middle East Peace Plan) and the "Abraham Accord". Normalization and emergence of actual diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirate and Bahrain and preparing grounds for normalizing this regime's relations with Oman, Sudan, Morocco and even the Saudi Arabia are signs of development in the Zionist regime's project of normalization of relations with the Arab countries. 165 سال پنجم -شماره نوزدهم-زمستان 1399 Abstract Since the normalization of relations between Zionist regime and the Arab countries of the region and their move towards strategic cooperation can well influence the power structure and relations in the region and pose some threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the axis of resistance, an urgency is felt to scrutinize Zionist regime's goals of persistently seeking to normalize its relations with the Arab countries of the region and the results stemming from applying this strategy. The present paper, using the library research method for gathering data and applying the descriptive-analytical approach in finding analysis, is seeking to find the answer to this question: "What are the goals and results of the normalization project in the relations between the Zionist regime and the regional Arab countries?" The findings of the paper indicate that a few of the Zionist regime's goals in normalizing the relations with the Arab countries include reaching a common understanding of the threat, confronting the common threat (i.e. Iran), and also dealing with the new geopolitical system which is getting formed in favor of the axis of resistance. The process of normalizing the relations with the Arab countries would help the Zionist regime to have more presence, influence and agency in the security environment around the Islamic Republic of Iran and could also increase the threat levels against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The favorable results of the process of normalization of re lations with the Arab countries for the Zionist regime are as follows: Enhancing the success rate of the project of making all Iranian issues security issues; boosting the Zionist regime and regional Arab countries' motivation and confidence in dealing with the Islamic Republic of Iran and, consequently, an increase in the level of conflict of these countries with the Islamic Republic of Iran and raising the legitimacy of the Zionist regime in the region.

The Trump administration has promised to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East by implementing the Deal of Century. Given the lack of acceptance of this plan, not only by the Palestinians but also by the United States, the main question of this research is: to what extent implementation of Deal of Century can be successful? The hypothesis of this study is as follows: due to lack of attention to the real roots of the conflict, special attention to Israeli interests, disregard for Palestinian rights, drafting a plan without negotiating with the Palestinian side, the inability of the United States to implement some provisions of the plan, the opposition of the Arab League and the European Union, this plan is not feasible and if some of its provisions are implemented unilaterally, it will only increase tensions in the Middle East. The authors have used the model of "resolving territorial disputes" to analyze the probability of success of this project using analytical and descriptive methods. Finally, the authors conclude that to achieve peace in the Middle East, an alternative plan must be considered that would ensure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In today's world, the establishment of democracy is literally the desire of many nations. This desire faces many barriers and challenges that make it particularly difficult to achieve, especially in tribal nation-states. Undoubtedly, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf are important states in all economic, political, cultural and social dimensions in regional and trans-regional contexts, and the existence of rich energy resources doubles this importance. By focusing on the democracy as the nodal point, the present study examines the barriers to transition to democracy as a surrounding point in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The main question of this research is formulated as follows: "What are the most important barriers to the transition to democracy in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf?" The paper hypothesis suggests that there are structural and systematic barriers that make it difficult to achieve democracy. In this regard, the findings show that the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf have made little progress on the path to democracy and even they are at a considerable distance from the semi-democratic situation. This research has been done by descriptive-analytical method and through library resources and specialized texts on the subject.

To understand a country's foreign policy approaches, important data such as the quantity and quality of the presence of foreign actors, evolution or defects in the legal-governance structure, political elite thinking, social and political stratification, geopolitical, geoeconomic and geocultural position are essential. Regarding Iraq's foreign policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, in addition to the mentioned data, other issues such as territorial and border disputes with neighbors, excessive enthusiasm for leading the Arab world and playing a "major or appropriate role" in resolving regional issues. , Strategic inclinations are effective for tangible activity in the Persian Gulf and getting rid of geopolitical bottlenecks. After the occupation of Iraq in 2003, the Americans have made great efforts to overshadow the decision-making circles in Iraq's foreign policy, while Iran has elements of soft power in Iraq so has more legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraqi government and society. The present study seeks to examine the important approaches of Iraq,s foreign policy, while examining the approaches of modern Iraq's foreign policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran in a scenario-writing manner. The research findings show that the continuation of competition between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States is a scenario that is more likely to occur. Therefore, it seems that with the adoption of an independent foreign policy by Iraq and the liberation from the clutches of the United States in the future, the weight of Iraq's interaction with the Islamic Republic of Iran will be heavier.

In recent years, one of the most important events in the region is the issue of changing the foreign strategy of the Israeli regime by using various means against the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the Israeli National Security Document in 2019 and 2020, Israel intends to launch an Iranophobia project in its new regional strategy, in addition to mobilizing the capacity of the West, led by the United States, to gain immediate support for the regime, especially the Gulf Arabs and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia will establish relations and, in addition to intensifying the anti-Iranian atmosphere in West Asia, bring with it the practical agreement and consent of the Arabs against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In fact, the key question in this article is what effect has the spread of Iranophobia had on Israel's new regional strategy? The research method in this article is descriptive-analytical. The results of this study confirm that Israel aims to spread Iranophobia due to fears of the Islamic Republic of Iran's influence in the Middle East, and in fact intends to use existing tools such as US support and start a friendship plan with Arab countries in order to work harder to advance the issue of Iranophobia.

 Current developments in the Middle East indicate a high probability of tension in the region which provided the basis for regional coalitions. In a way that, Saudi Arabia, as one of the major players in the Middle East region and the main competitor of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has sought to increase its regional influence in the major conquest centers. In this regard, the main question of the research is that, what alternative scenarios does Iran face in dealing with Saudi regional coalitions in the years after 2011? Considering Saudi Arabia's regional alliance in the Middle East against Iran, Alternative Scenarios of the Islamic Republic of Iran are at the Micro Level (Yemen Crisis) Consolidation of Ansarollah's Position in the country’s Political System, at the regional level, creating gaps in regional coalitions and at the trans-regional level, the deterioration and reinforcement of Iranian cultural diplomacy. This study is based on future research methodologies and based on the deductive approach and the use of Peter Schwartz's Global Business Network Improvement Model.