Volume 12 Issue 1 2011
CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS
54
ent state, as well as the existence of the independent Azerbaijan Republic and Tajikistan (a Persian-
speaking Central Asian state) have key policy-making implications for Iran’s foreign and security policy
toward the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia.
The next fundamental source of Iran’s foreign policy is the economy. Since the Islamic Rev-
olution of 1979, Iran has been facing significant problems with respect to modernizing its national
economy and army. And now both issues are of high priority on Tehran’s agenda. Iran needs for-
eign investments, both to diversify the national economy and to ensure access to new technologies.
However, Iran’s isolation in global affairs, as a result of U.S.-Iranian tension, is making it very
difficult for Tehran’s government to launch the nation’s economic, military and technological
modernization.
Meanwhile, it must be emphasized that the relations between Iran and the United States are
dominating Iran’s foreign policy and driving or fueling the nation’s behavior at the global and region-
al levels. Moreover, a key strategic issue for Iran’s foreign policy is to solve the problems with the
West (the United States). So, from our viewpoint, Iran is conducting its foreign policy from the prism
of its relations with the United States, and Tehran’s government is applying this same approach to-
ward the Southern Caucasus.
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