The Impact of Variable Factors on the Dissimilarities of Iran's Foreign Policy (1979-2005)

Conduct and orientation of states in their foreign policy are affected by geopolitical constant and variable factors. The authors of the present paper try to study the impact of variable factors on determining the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy in the 1979- 2005 period, on the basis of Holsti’s trilogy on foreign policy (orientations, national roles and goals). Exploiting the concept of national power derived from geopolitics, they also attempt to explain why different discourses have been dominant in Iran’s foreign policy in various periods. It seems that determining variable factors justify changes in the foreign policy of post-revolutionary Iran.