ASP fellow Joshua Foust and intern Bryan Gold were recently featured in The Hill.  In their article they explain why Iran’s foreign policy choices, while seeming to be irrational, fit within the Iranian government’s strategic environment and improves their national security.

“All of Iran’s foreign policy decisions have fit within the rational framework of improving their national defense and increasing regional influence. It is clear that Supreme Leader Khamenei believes that the goal for United States’ sanctions against Iran is not the removal of the nuclear program but the destruction of the regime itself. Because of this belief, and the perceived dangers that the United States presents to Iran, Iran maintains strong relationships with Hezbollah and Syria, continues to improve its indigenous nuclear program, and retains potent asymmetrical warfare capabilities.

Iran’s strategic environment sets the framework for its foreign policy. Since its modern founding as an Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has been living in a dangerous neighborhood. It is currently within striking distance by American forces in Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, and until recently, Iraq.  It lives within an F-15 flight of Saudi Arabia and its U.S.-equipped military, and Israel, which has shown its willingness to strike at other countries when it feels threatened. Its military is underfunded and ill-equipped. Its economy, shattered by years of sanctions, is on the verge of collapse.”

Read the full article here.

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