Foreign relations of Iran

History

Iranians have traditionally been highly sensitive to foreign interference in their country, pointing to such events as the Russian conquest of northern parts of the country in the course of the 19th century, the tobacco concession, the British and Russian occupations of the First and Second World Wars, and the CIA plot to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq. This suspicion manifests itself in attitudes that many foreigners might find incomprehensible, such as the "fairly common" belief that the Iranian Revolution was actually the work of a conspiracy between Iran's Shi'a clergy and the British government. This may have been a result of the anti-Shah bias in BBC Radio's influential Persian broadcasts into Iran: a BBC report of 23 March 2009 explains that many in Iran saw the broadcaster and the government as one, and interpreted the bias for Khomeini as evidence of weakening British government support for the Shah. It is entirely plausible that the BBC did indeed help hasten revolutionary events.

Revolutionary period under Khomeini

Under the Khomeini government Iran's foreign policy often emphasized the elimination of foreign influence and the spread of Islamic revolution over state-to-state relations or the furtherance of trade. In Khomeini's own words,

We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry "There is no God but God" resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle.

The Islamic Republic's effort to spread the revolution is considered to have begun in earnest in March 1982, when 380 men from more than 25 Arab and Islamic nations met at the former Tehran Hilton Hotel for a "seminar" on the "ideal Islamic government" and, less academically, the launch of a large-scale offensive to cleanse the Islamic world of the satanic Western and Communist influences that were seen to be hindering the Islamic world's progress. The gathering of militants, primarily Shi'a but including some Sunnis, "with various religious and revolutionary credentials," was hosted by the Association of Militant Clerics and the Pasdaran Islamic Revolutionary Guards. The nerve centre of the revolutionary crusade, operational since shortly after the 1979 revolution, was located in downtown Tehran and known to outsiders as the "Taleghani Centre". Here the groundwork for the gathering was prepared: the establishment of Arab cadres, recruited or imported from surrounding countries to spread the revolution, and provision of headquarters for such groups as the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, the Iraqi Shi'a movement, and Philippine Moro, Kuwaiti, Saudi, North African and Lebanese militant clerics.

These groups came under the umbrella of the "Council for the Islamic Revolution", which was supervised by Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, the designated heir of Ayatollah Khomeini. Most of the council's members were clerics, but they also reportedly included advisors from the Syrian and Libyan intelligence agencies. The council apparently received more than $1 billion annually in contributions from the faithful in other countries and in funds allocated by the Iranian government.

Its strategy was two-pronged: armed struggle against what were perceived as Western imperialism and its agents; and an internal purifying process to free Islamic territory and Muslim minds of non-Islamic cultural, intellectual and spiritual influences, by providing justice, services, resources to the mustazafin (weak) masses of the Muslim world. These attempts to spread its Islamic revolution strained the country's relations with many of its Arab neighbours, and the extrajudicial execution of Iranian dissidents in Europe unnerved European nations, particularly France and Germany. For example, the Islamic Republic expressed its opinion of Egypt's secular government by naming a street in Tehran after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's killer, Khalid al-Istanbuli. At this time Iran found itself very isolated, but this was a secondary consideration to the spread of revolutionary ideals across the Persian Gulf and confrontation with the US (or "Great Satan") in the 1979-1981 hostage crisis.

Training volunteers

Arab and other Muslim volunteers who came to Iran were trained in camps run by the Revolutionary Guards. There were three primary bases in Tehran, and others in Ahvaz, Isfahan, Qom, Shiraz, and Mashad, and a further facility, converted in 1984, near the southern naval base at Bushire.

In 1981 Iran supported an attempt to overthrow the Bahraini government, in 1983 expressed political support for Shi'ites who bombed Western embassies in Kuwait, and in 1987 Iranian pilgrims rioted at poor living conditions and treatment during the Hajj (pilgrimage) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and were consequently massacred. Nations with strong fundamentalist movements, such as Egypt and Algeria, also began to mistrust Iran. With the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Iran was thought to be supporting the creation of the Hizballah organization. Furthermore, Iran went on to oppose the Arab–Israeli peace process, because it saw Israel as an illegal country.

Iran–Iraq War

Relations with Iraq had never been good historically; however, they took a turn for the worse in 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran. The stated reason for Iraq's invasion was the contested sovereignty over the Shatt al-Arab waterway (Arvand Rud in Persian). Other reasons, unstated, were probably more significant: Iran and Iraq had a history of interference in each other's affairs by supporting separatist movements, and although this interference had ceased since the Algiers Agreement (1975), after the Revolution Iran resumed support for Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq.

Iran demanded the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Iranian territory and the return to the status quo ante for the Shatt al-Arab, as established under the Algiers Agreement. This period saw Iran become even more isolated, with virtually no allies. Exhausted by the war, Iran signed UN Security Council Resolution 598 in July 1988, after the United States and Germany began supplying Iraq with chemical weapons. The ceasefire resulting from the UN resolution was implemented on 20 August 1988. Neither nation had made any real gains in the war, which left one million dead and had a dramatic effect on the country's foreign policy. From this point on, the Islamic Republic recognized that it had no choice but to moderate its radical approach and rationalize its objectives. This was the beginning of what Anoushiravan Ehteshami calls the "reorientation phase" of Iranian foreign policy.

Pragmatism

Like other revolutionary states, practical considerations have sometimes led the Islamic Republic to inconsistency and subordination of such ideological concerns as pan-Islamic solidarity. One observer, Graham Fuller, has called the Islamic Republic "stunningly silent"

about [Muslim] Chechens in [non-Muslim] Russia, or Uyghurs in China, simply because the Iranian state has important strategic ties with both China and Russia that need to be preserved in the state interest. Iran has astonishingly even supported Christian Armenia against Shi'ite Azerbaijan and has been careful not to lend too much support to Islamic Tajiks in Tajikistan, where the language is basically a dialect of Persian.

In this regard the Islamic Republic resembles another revolutionary state, the old Soviet Union. The USSR was ideologically committed not to Islam but to world proletarian revolution, led by Communist parties under its leadership, but "frequently abandoned support to foreign communist parties when it served Soviet national interests to cooperate with the governments that were oppressing them."

Post-War period (1988–present)

Since the end of the Iran–Iraq War, Iran's new foreign policy has had a dramatic effect on its global standing. Relations with the European Union have dramatically improved, to the point where Iran is a major oil exporter and a trading partner with such countries as Italy, France, and Germany. China and India have also emerged as friends of Iran; these three countries face similar challenges in the global economy as they industrialize, and consequently find themselves aligned on a number of issues.

Iran maintains regular diplomatic and commercial relations with Russia and the former Soviet Republics. Both Iran and Russia believe they have important national interests at stake in developments in Central Asia and the Transcaucasus, particularly concerning energy resources from the Caspian Sea.

Significant historical treaties

Current policies

The Islamic Republic of Iran accords priority to its relations with the other states in the region and with the rest of the Islamic world. This includes a strong commitment to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement. Relations with the states of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), especially with Saudi Arabia, have improved in recent years. However, an unresolved territorial dispute with the United Arab Emirates concerning three islands in the Persian Gulf continues to mar its relations with these states. Iran has close relations with Kuwait.

Iran is seeking new allies around the world due to its increasing political and economic isolation in the international community. This isolation is evident in the various economic sanctions and the EU oil embargo that have been implemented in response to questions that have been raised over the Iranian nuclear program (Iran's Nuclear Program).

Tehran supports the Interim Governing Council in Iraq, but it strongly advocates a prompt and full transfer of state authority to the Iraqi people. Iran hopes for stabilization in Afghanistan and supports the reconstruction effort so that the Afghan refugees in Iran (which number approximately 2.5 million.) can return to their homeland and the flow of drugs from Afghanistan can be stemmed. Iran is also pursuing a policy of stabilization and cooperation with the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia, whereby it is seeking to capitalise on its central location to establish itself as the political and economic hub of the region.

On the international scene, it has been argued by some that Iran has become, or will become in the near future, a superpower due to its ability to influence international events. Others, such as Robert Baer, have argued that Iran is already an energy superpower and is on its way to becoming an empire. Flynt Leverett calls Iran a rising power that might well become a nuclear power in coming years—if the US does not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear technology, as part of a grand bargain under which Iran would cease its nuclear activities in exchange for a guarantee of its borders by the US.

Current territorial disputes

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran is selected by the President of Iran.

Africa

In 2010, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said it was a principle of the government to boost ties with African states. "Relations between Iran and African countries have had a special position in the Islamic Republic's foreign policy over recent decades. Iran intends to promote relations with Africa in all fields, particularly in economic areas." However, there are some signs of disillusionment beginning to emerge in Africa in that twenty African nations threatened to close their embassies in Tehran following what they termed Ahmadinejad's failure to live up to the promises he made during his trips to Africa. However, the Iranian government does not seem deterred by the misadventures, and seems to keep considering African countries strategically necessary to enable it to receive international support for its much criticized nuclear program.

Gambia

In November 2010, Gambia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in reaction to a weapons shipment. The Gambian government allowed 48 hours to Iranians to leave the country.

Ghana

Iran and Ghana maintain a historic special relationship and Iran has an embassy in Ghana and Ghana has an embassy in Tehran.

Senegal

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade pledged to expand bilateral ties in the fields of economics, tourism and politics in addition to increased efforts to empower OIC. Iran Khodro established an assembly line to produce Iranian cars in Senegal for African markets. The company had the capacity to produce 10,000 Samand cars annually.

In February 2011, Senegal severed diplomatic relations Iran as it accused Iran of supplying weapons to rebels in the Casamance region.

South Africa

South Africa and Iran share historical bilateral relations and the latter supported the South African liberation movements. It severed official relations with South Africa in 1979 and imposed a trade boycott in protest against the country’s Apartheid policies. However, in January 1994 Iran lifted all trade and economic sanctions against South Africa and diplomatic relations were reestablished on 10 May 1994.

Republic of Congo

In 2010, the Congo's parliamentary speaker Justin Koumba visited Iran, and at their meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called for an enhancement of cooperation between the two states: "In the areas of commerce, investment and conducting different projects, Iran could have better collaboration with Congo." He also called for a joint economic commission that would lay the legal grounds for further advancement of "common goals". Koumba hailed their bilateral relations and called for even closer ties in political, economic, industrial and commercial areas.

Zimbabwe

There are growing economic, social and cultural ties between Iran and Zimbabwe. Relations between Iran and Zimbabwe started in 1979 when the late Vice President Simon Muzenda visited Tehran to meet leaders of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Zimbabwe opened an embassy in Tehran in 2003.

In 2005 President Mugabe confirmed the formal engagement of Iran in bilateral relations during the State visit to Zimbabwe by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. In 2009 President Mugabe in a state TV address confirmed his support for the Iranian nuclear program and the shared struggle against "demagogues and international dictators."

Latin America

Trade between Iran and Brazil quadrupled between 2002 and 2007, and it will further increase as much as fivefold, from $2 billion to $10 billion annually. In addition to Brazil, Iran has signed dozens of economic agreements with Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, Iran and Venezuela have agreed to invest $350 million in building a deepwater seaport off the Caribbean coast, in addition to a cross-country system of pipelines, rails and highways. Iranian firms are also planning to build two cement factories in Bolivia. Other developments include the agreement reached with Ecuador to build a cement factory as well as several other industrial cooperation MoUs (2008). In the four years after Ahmadinejad ascended to the Iranian presidency in 2005, Iran opened six new embassies in Latin America. The new embassies are located in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay - in addition to the five already in operation in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela.

Belize

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 November 1992.

Bolivia

As one of the countries in the Latin American "pink tide", Bolivia also consolidated relations with Iran over economic and political ties. Bolivian President Evo Morales has supported Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power, amongst other political rhetoric. During a 2010 meeting in Iran with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad he said there was a need to "strengthen the resistance front formed by independent and freedom-seeking nations to fight against imperialism and global hegemony."

Brazil

Brazil and Iran have enjoyed increasingly close political relations over the years, growing with the volume of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The election of Dilma Rousseff as president of Brazil has brought a change to Brazilian policy towards Iran. Rousseff harshly criticized the human rights situation in Iran. During her electoral campaign she said that women stoning in Iran is "Medieval behavior." and after coming into office Brazil supported a resolution for nominating a U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, whose eventual report condemned Iranian rights abuses. in response Iranian President Ahmadinejad's media adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, was quoted as stating that Rousseff had "destroyed years of good relations" between them Ahmadinejad did not go to Brazil while touring South America in January 2012.

Cuba

Iran has a productive trade balance with Cuba. The two governments signed a document to bolster cooperation in Havana in January 2006. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called relations "firm and progressive" over the past three decades.

Ecuador

In early 2010, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa alleged his country was being sanctioned because of ties to Iran. After an attempted coup against Correa in 2010, the two countries signalled intentions to deepen ties.

Mexico

The first diplomatic relations between Mexico and Iran date back to 1889, although cooperation and trade between the two friend nations was not formally established until 1937. Mexico and Iran have enjoyed increasingly close political and economic relations over the years, growing with the volume of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The two countries aim to expand cooperation in several sectors, sharing science and technology, particularly in the oil industry. Both countries have also shared successful experiences in cultural cooperation and exchange. In 2008, an agreement to form a Mexico-Iran parliamentary friendship group was made at the Mexican parliament. Iran has an embassy in Mexico City, and Mexico has an embassy in Tehran.

Venezuela

Venezuela's former president, Hugo Chavez and Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have both described themselves on the world stage as opposed to US imperialism. Citing this commonality of opinion, they regard each other as allies, and they have embarked on a number of initiatives together. For example, on 6 January 2007 the two announced that they would use some money from a previously-announced $2 billion joint fund to invest in other countries that were "attempting to liberate themselves from the imperialist yoke," in Chavez's words.

US and Canada

Canada

Canadian–Iranian relations date back to 1955, up to which point Canadian consular and commercial affairs in Iran were handled by the British Embassy. A Canadian diplomatic mission was constructed in Tehran in 1959 and raised to Embassy status in 1961. Due to rocky relations after the Iranian Revolution, Iran did not establish an embassy in Canada until 1991 when its staff, which had been living in a building on Roosevelt Avenue in Ottawa's west end, moved into 245 Metcalfe Street in the Centretown neighbourhood of Ottawa and the mission was upgraded to embassy status.

On 7 September 2012, Canada broke off diplomatic relations with Iran, saying "It is among the world’s worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups." In a statement, Canadian foreign minister John Baird said "the Iranian regime has shown blatant disregard for the Vienna Convention and its guarantee of protection for diplomatic personnel. Under the circumstances, Canada can no longer maintain a diplomatic presence in Iran. Our diplomats serve Canada as civilians, and their safety is our number one priority." The announcement of embassy closure happened on the same day that the movie Argo, about the Canadian Caper, was released at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Following the election of Justin Trudeau in October 2015, the new Canadian government is looking to repair diplomatic relations with Iran and lifted most of its economic sanctions, following a historic Iranian nuclear deal in July 2015.

United States

Political relations between Iran and the United States began in the mid-to-late 19th century, but had slight importance and aroused little controversy until the post-World War II era of the Cold War and the rise of petroleum exports from the Persian Gulf. An era of close alliance between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's regime and the American government was followed by a dramatic reversal and hostility between the two countries after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Currently, Iranian interests in the United States are handled through the Pakistani embassy.

Opinions differ over what has caused the decades of poor relations. Explanations offered include everything from the "natural and unavoidable" conflict between the Islamic Revolution on the one hand, and American arrogance and desire for global dictatorship and hegemony on the other, to the regime's need for an "external bogeyman" to "furnish a pretext for domestic repression" against pro-democratic forces, and bind the regime to its "small but loyal and heavily armed constituency".

NATO

For the first time in thirty years, Iran held informal talks with NATO in mid-March 2009, when NATO negotiator Martin Erdmann met Iran's ambassador to the European Union, Ali-Asghar Khaji.

International organization participation

Iran is the member of the following organizations: CP, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, GECF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, BRICS (observer), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, SAARC (observer) SCO (observer), United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO WFTU, WEF, WHO, WMO, WTO (observer), ALBA (observer)