A Study of Geopolitical and Geo-economic Status of Iran Vis-à-vis CIS Countries

Despite the fact that Iran’s economic potentials on the one hand and economic weakness and landlockedness of the CIS countries on the other are the least reasons for cordial economic-commercial cooperation between the two sides, currently the geopolitical and political realities dominating Iran-CIS states relations do not conform with imaginative ideas of Iranian officials and geopolitical codes defined in Iran’s foreign policy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Iran not only during the geopolitical transition of the region and the world but also in its aftermath could never define a specific political-economic status for itself in the region. Despite the geopolitical and geoeconmic interdependence between Iran and the CIS countries, given the current trends in Iran foreign policy and due to US measures to geopolitically isolate Iran, it is unlikely that Iran would be able to attain a geopolitical and geoeconomic balance to restore its national interests. Attempts have been made in the present paper to shed light on the regional geopolitical realities which influence Iran’s geopolitical and geoeconomic position vis-à-vis the CIS countries.