Economic Diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Assessing 25 - year economic relations between Iran and Central Asian Republics

Due to its cultural and civilizational relations and geopolitical importance in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Central Asia has always been under attention of Iran’s economic diplomacy goals, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. During the 25 year independency of Central Asian countries, the dominant dimension of Iran’s foreign policy behavior toward this region has been influenced by geopolitical discourse and therefore has been pragmatist and interest oriented. The eleventh administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the framework of moderation discourse and its economic oriented foreign policy, has paid especial attention to expanding its economic relations with Central Asian Republics. The present article attempts to find out the achievements of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s economic diplomacy in Central Asia and also the reason of prioritization of economic diplomacy in the eleventh administration. The following hypothesis guides this study: Although during last two decades, pragmatist politics, derived from Iran’s geopolitical discourse in Central Asia, has lead to the expansion of economic relations in the region, the cooperative and development oriented nature of the moderation discourse as well as the necessities of Iran’s twenty – year vision plan and its resilient economy has prioritized the economic diplomacy in Iran’s foreign policy towards Central Asia. While scrutinizing Iran’s economic diplomacy in Central Asia, the authors attempt to assess the significance of economic diplomacy in the eleventh administration. Using explanatory – analyzing research method, the authors try to tell why the research findings provide an answer to the research question.