Newsaholic

  The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic is a result of its own self-interest. The country's approach to international relations is motivated by the need to defend Iran's Islamic theocracy from external threats. That strategy can occasionally appear aggressive or pragmatist. There is also a sectarian perspective. Iran has depended on a policy of establishing partnerships with nonstate groups to help advance its strategic goals because of its relative estrangement from its neighbours since the 1979 revolution. Iran's assistance for Shia organisations has most enraged its neighbours, despite the fact that it also backs Sunni organisations like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Iran has benefited strategically from this strategy, which is frequently combined with the unofficial aim of exporting the revolution, but it has also cemented impressions of its confessional prejudice. Since the 1979 revolution, religion has been integral to Iranian decision-making. S...