Iran's Regional Policy in the Field of Energy Diplomacy:In the context of regional political economy (2003-2019)

For more than a century, the political economy of the Middle East has revolved around the logic and axis of international and regional developments in energy and other components. Relying heavily on raw energy resources, while imposing comprehensive restrictions on its holders, has paved the way for political, economic, cultural and diplomatic dynamics based on energy. Meanwhile, one of the dynamics factors is the role of energy in the region's foreign policy, energy diplomacy, which may be one of the most important and at the same time the most complex diplomatic areas in the relations of regional actors, especially the two energy giants, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He considered other important actors such as the countries on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. From this perspective, the present article seeks to investigate the question of "What has been the pattern of foreign policy behavior following the developments in the energy diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the context of regional political economy from 2003 to 2019?" The results and findings of the study show that key patterns of Iran's relations with the Middle East have followed two key components of minor interaction and intense and maximum confrontation in the field of energy diplomacy and in the context of regional political economy from 2003 to 2019. In this paper, the case-analytical and statistical research method is used based on the sources of the first category of energy and diplomacy.