The Islamic Republic of Iran's Defensive Strategy in the Face of Saudi Arabia: Geopolitical Opportunities and Strengths

Saudi Arabia, possessing exclusive capacities, seeks to play a more effective role in the upheavals of west-south Asia as an effective actor in regional developments. As the geopolitical factors are assumed as a base for adopting appropriate strategies in development of defensive strategies, this study aims to define geopolitical opportunities and strengths effective in development of the IRI's defensive strategy towards Saudi Arabia. To do so, it uses analytical-descriptive method in an applied manner and draws up questionnaire in two phases and delivers them to the population and then processes the data with SPSS. To analyse the data, it exploits the Frequency Table, T-Student and Compare Means in such a way that 66 geopolitical factors are developed in six dimensions including environment, human-power, economy, home policy, and international and military policy. Accordingly, the overriding opportunities in this field include Russia-Arabia relations, the resident Shiite opposite to Saudi Arabia, the dependence of Saudi Arabia on the Strait of Hurmoz, Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. On the other side, the overriding strengths are the indigenization of Iran's defense industries and the Iran's control over the Strait of Hurmoz, if need be.