09 July 2013
This article tries to explain the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy towards the Middle East during the first decade of its existence in the framework of the strategy of maximizing revolutionary influence. The goal of this strategy is to pressure the revolution and the new political system by expanding the revolution's borders and creating a favorable regional environment for the survival of the Islamic Revolution and its expansion. This article tries to answer the question of what were the most important factors contributing to the introduction, continuation and decline of the strategy of maximizing revolutionary influence in the I.R.I's foreign policy in the related period, drawing upon the conceptual potentials and elements of neo-classical realism to explain this strategy. It also seeks to study the different dimensions and changes of this strategy. Along these lines, it argues that the structure and developments of the international and regional systems have been the independent variables contributing to the introduction, continuation and decline of the strategy of maximizing revolutionary influence in the I.R.I's foreign policy towards the Middle East. However, the impact of these variables on foreign policy has been carried out through intermediating variables of domestic policy such as ideology, identify of the new political system, leaders' perception of developments and capability of mobilizing resources along with the goals of foreign policy.
Keywords: strategy of maximizing revolutionary influence, the I.R.I's foreign policy, neo-classical realism, Iran- Iraq war, revolution export, Middle East
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