A Comparative Study of the Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America towards Iraqi Kurdistan (2003-2023)

Due to its geopolitical position and energy resources, Iraqi Kurdistan is considered a strategic and important region for regional and extra-regional powers. This issue has caused the formulation and follow-up of a special policy towards this region in the past, in line with or in some cases in conflict with the strategy of these countries towards Iraq, a part of their policy to achieve their interests and goals in West Asia. These conditions have intensified especially since the US invasion of Iraq in 1991 and the establishment of a very distinct state of self-government in this region, followed by the occupation of this country in 2003 and the recognition of the autonomy of the Kurdistan Region in the 2005 Iraqi Constitution. In this context, the main question of this research is how the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States towards the Kurdistan region of Iraq can be explained and evaluated in the period from 2003 to 2023. The findings of this research, which was carried out with a descriptive-analytical method and using documentary sources, show that the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the Kurdistan region of Iraq is in the framework of the foreign policy of defensive realism and based on the strategy of balancing threats and the foreign policy of the United States. In this region, aggressive realism foreign policy based on the strategy of shifting responsibility has been pursued.