چکیده:
Many western politicians and commentators have described Iran's national security policies in the years after the Islamic Revolution as antagonistic، “breaking the rules of the game" and threatening to other countries. While most Iranian scholars have argued that Iran should not be viewed as a threat to the Middle East and the international society at large. In fact، their counter-argument is that the post-1979 Iran has played a “pacifying” role in its unstable and conflict-prone environment. Important dimensions of Iran’s defense policy will be examined in order to find answers to the following questions: What are the main challenges and opportunities for Iran’s ambition to improve its relative power position in the region، considering the perceptions of the great powers and key regional states of the “Iran threat”? Is Iran’s foreign and security policies expansionist or defensive? Should its defense policy be viewed as a threat to regional security?
خلاصه ماشینی:
Although the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan brought more American troops near Iranian borders, but Iran’s elites have viewed the presence of foreign forces in the Persian Gulf and the economic sanctions imposed on Iran as surmountable security challenges which would create a stronger and more independent Iran.
8 Contrary to the pessimism about the ability of the Iranian government to enhance the relative position of Iran in the Middle East, we have witness the rise of a stronger Iran as a result of positive changes in the regional security environment, most notably the overthrow of the Baathist regime in Baghdad, the removal of Taliban in Kabul, the gradual move by Ankara to distant Turkey from Israel, and the onset of uprising" threatening the pro-American regimes.
It is no wonder that Israeli leaders have expressed strong objection to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs since the late 1990s, and are waging a war of words against the Islamic Republic in the hope of an "Iraq- like" scenario of regime change for Iran.
a new post- In contrast to Turkey which could be a neutral friend or a strategic ally, Israel as the other non-Arab Middle East country will remain a security threat and a potential enemy of the Islamic Republic.
As long as there are efforts to portray Iran as a "threat" to the security of the regional states and to justify a concentration of US forces on Iran’s borders, the Iranian government will keep its options open by building up its conventional military capability to deter foreign aggression.