Analysis of Factors of Convergence and Divergence of Iran's Foreign Policy and Persian Gulf Cooperation Countries (Case Study: United Arab Emirates)

Introduction  The United Arab Emirates is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which, while having economic relations with Iran, has a conflict of interest with the Islamic Republic of Iran in regional and international policies. As a result, it has allied with the United States and Saudi Arabia in carrying out various actions against the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This article analyzes the factors of convergence and divergence of Iran's foreign policy towards the United Arab Emirates. This research seeks an answer to the following question: “what are the factors of convergence and divergence of Iran's foreign policy towards the United Arab Emirates?” Methodology The research is descriptive-analytic and the data collection method is based on library and field finding method. Given that foreign policy is a systemic and integrated concept, the DEMATEL technique is used to determine the cause-and-effect relationships between variables. For this purpose, a paired comparison questionnaire was provided to 50 researchers in the fields of political geography, political science, and geopolitics. Findings The convergent and divergent factors of Iran's foreign policy towards the United Arab Emirates were examined based on 20 criteria and indicators. In general, variables such as different perspectives on international politics, the UAE's armed forces, military treaties, disagreements on the Yemen issue, the adoption of an aggressive strategy by Ansarullah, UAE Shiites, Saudi-UAE disputes, and convergence with Saudi Arabia in the region indicate high interaction and strong systemic connection with other variables. The variables such as Iran and the UAE's territorial disputes over three Iranian islands, military costs, natural problems, Washington's failure to form an international maritime coalition, different perspectives on international politics, the UAE's armed forces, and military treaties are considered as the cause of this systemic model. And factors such as fear from increasing the influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, lack of efficient manpower, lack of the U.S military response, type of government, and internal disputes between the emirates are among the effects. Conclusion Iran's foreign policy towards the Persian Gulf countries, including the UAE, is important. The UAE has a suitable regional weight. It is one of five or six active players in West Asia and East Africa, and has used its economic weight as a major oil producer to create and maintain this status. It is a leading regional player (along with Qatar) in transforming its energy resources into a powerful and diversified global economy based on services, finance, trade, and logistics. Iran could benefit from deeper trade and economic ties with the UAE, particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, to strengthen its economy. These ties could include access to UAE markets and increased re-exports of goods, particularly oil, which would generally benefit both countries.

Analysis of Factors of Convergence and Divergence of Iran's Foreign Policy and Persian Gulf Cooperation Countries (Case Study: United Arab Emirates) Keywords:

Foreign Policy , Islamic Republic of Iran , United Arab Emirates , سیاست خارجی , همگرایی , واگرایی , جمهوری اسلامی ایران , امارات متحده عربی