Mohammad bin Zayed Foreign Policy Strategy; Threats, capabilities and security requirements of Iran

Mohammed bin Zayed changed the UAE's foreign policy strategy after coming to power in 2004. Moving away from the traditional strategy of defensive policy, bin Zayed adopted a new strategy towards Iran and the Middle East region. Meanwhile, the changes in coalition patterns of the region in the form of the "Ebrahimi Peace" plan in order to unite with Israel, the Arab NATO plan and efforts to strengthen the US military presence in the region, have threatened the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, the present study seeks to answer the fundamental question that what opportunities and requirements has Mohammad bin Zayed's foreign policy strategy in the region created for the foreign policy and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran? In this article, "Neorealism" is used as a theoretical approach by an explanatory-analytical research method while library methods were used for data acquisition. The findings of the present study indicate that the UAE's growing proximity to Israel, its efforts to establish an Arab front with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi's proximity to the United States, and its widespread confrontation with Iran undermine Iran's national security. These wide-ranging impacts have created the need to reconsider the type of engagement with the UAE at both levels of confrontation and de-escalation.