Looking-East in the Iranian Foreign Policy: The Politico-Ideological Inclinations and Practical Imperatives

Abstract

As counterintuitive as it may at first seem, Iran embarked upon a policy of looking-East long before many other nations adopted such a critical approach in their dealing with the outside world. Various aspects of the orientation, however, did not receive equal attention or did not yield desired results simply because the importance and weight of each relevant objective pursued by successive Iranian governments in East Asia waxed and waned largely based on the Middle Eastern country's domestic requirements. Despite its fluctuating nature and mixed outcomes in the past, looking-East is widely expected to last as a pillar of Iranian foreign policy approach for decades to come at a crucial time when Tehran is unable, or actually unwilling, to chip away at its key differences with Western countries especially the United States of America.

Need for Translation Services in the Globalized World: A Periphery-Informed Explanation

“…For example, Mohammadian and Hajiyousefi (2022) addressed the issue of Iran's foreign policies in the Qajar, Pahlavi, and Islamic Republic periods and presented a new theoretical model for examining Iran's foreign policies that did not exist before. In another study, Azad (2022) examined the foreign policies of Iran as one of the first countries to adopt an Eastoriented attitude. The results of the research show that although this policy was not so deeply rooted in the past, it will continue to exist in the future.…”