Identifying and prioritizing the factors causing divergence in Iran's relations with the Persian Gulf Countries

Persian Gulf region is known as a strategic region in geopolitical affairs and also an effective region on global equations, in which the countries of this crucial region could have a great impact on global equations in the case of understanding the geopolitical conditions and capacities in the region, moving toward convergence and creation of a regional economic organization. Currently, with a lack of understanding and moving toward divergence, it will reduce effectiveness of region on global equations and create a tension in relations between Iran and the Persian Gulf countries. Therefore, in this research, in addition to studying the causes of divergence in relations between Iran and the Persian Gulf countries most effective factors of divergence were recognized and prioritized by using expert judgments, pair-wise comparisons method and Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP). Finally “Hegemonic competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia to lead and manage regional affairs” got the first place by gaining a weight of 0.258.