The Role of Public Opinion in Changing Iran's Strategy in the Belt and Road Initiative and Turning Politics to the East

Public policy is the main function of government; The most important issue in public policymaking is the support of the people for policies that create, recreate, strengthen and sustain the legitimacy and support of the government. Public opinion is one of the pillars influencing public policy. The media, civic organizations, university professors, political and social activists, and journalists represent public opinion. The elites in these groups influence the policymaking process by presenting the problems and demands of the people, proposing solutions, making decisions and participating in policy choices, evaluating policies and their effects. The subject of this article is to examine the impact of elites in changing Iran's strategy in the China belt and road initiative Plan. The Comprehensive 25-Year Strategic Partnership Agreement between Iran and China and the extensive participation in the belt and road initiative are seen as turning Iran's policy eastward. The main question of the article is what is the opinion of political and social elites on Iran's strategy in the belt and road initiative? How do they evaluate Iran's policy in this plan? From the point of view of public policy, what effect did the elites have on the rotation of Iranian policy to the east and the adoption of a strategy of active participation in the belt and road initiative? In answer to the above questions and other possible questions, the hypothesis of the article is that the opinion of social elites is in line with the strategy of developing Iran's interactions with the East and active presence in the belt and road initiative. The reaction of the elites as a representation of public opinion and its impact on the government's decision to change the strategy in the belt and road initiative plan is explained in the framework of the Defender Coalition theory. Findings of the research were obtained through surveys, detailed interviews and limited questionnaires.