United States Regional Strategy; Threatening of Iran’s Regional Actions

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student in Islamic Revelation Studies, Shahed University of Tehran, Faculty of Humanities, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. student in Regional Studies (European Studies) University of Tehran, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The Withdrawal of JCOPA, with this claim that this agreement has not been able to curb Iran's regional actions and policies, was a turning point in the US regional strategy in the Middle East. The issue, which was generally pursued in various forms under the concept of "containment strategy" in previous US administrations, was pursued during the Trump era as a "strategic encirclement" under the "maximum pressure campaign." In this regard, the United States, as a securitizing actor, sought to extend its security and threatening perception of Iran's regional actions to securitizing audiences (Middle East and Europe) within "Two-level strategy". In the first level, By adopting a "negative approach" with the aim of introducing and representing the Islamic Republic of Iran as a threat to the stability and security of the region, de-legitimization and discrediting of the Iran’s region actions and position was put on the agenda. in the second level, by adopting a "positive approach", the United States has sought to provide the adequate context for its allies to engage in consensus-building and use countermeasures (ranging from sanctions, threats, coercion and negotiation) to this constructed threat. The findings show that although the United States has been relatively successful in the first level of the threatening strategy, but it has not been able to obtain the adequate support in the second level, which is required for positive actions by the threatening audience. The method of this article is descriptive-analytical and the library tools, documents, electronic resources and websites and statements of relevant authorities have been used to collect data.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 April 2021
  • Revise Date: 24 May 2021
  • Accept Date: 19 June 2021

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