خلاصة:
Before the beginning of the European colonialism era, the Persian Gulf was a communication
link between Asia, Europe and Africa, through which silk, spices and other needed goods were
transported into the Mediterranean. With the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and the flourishing
of the southern African routes, in order to control the trade routes, colonialists entered the
arena, and worked extensively to set up bases in the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent and
further in the Far East, in a way that in early 16th Century this region was first noted by the Portuguese
and Spanish colonialists , and following the demise of the Portuguese naval power, for
some time there was a power vacuum in the region; such a way that the governance of the region
changed hands among local powers of the Safavieh, Afsharieh and Zandieh of Iran and the
rulers of Oman etc. On the other hand, although European actors were involved in the power
struggles and completion with local rulers, nevertheless there was a strong competition among
themselves in dominating the Persian Gulf and the Hormoz Straits, to an extent that the extent
of the rivalry between the Dutch, British, French and Russians at times were drawn into local
wars within Europe. Ultimately, Britain beat its rivals and established its rule in the region for
two centuries. However, in view of this history we observe that this region has been of particular
importance throughout history for numerous reasons. In this article, we attempt to review the
contemporary aspects of the importance of this region and its effect on the relations of two important
powers i.e. Iran and USA.
ملخص الجهاز:
Iran and the United States and the Persian Gulf: before the Islamic Revolution Following the post Second World War de- velopments British domination of the region started weakening, to an extent then in 1968, the British government announced that in 1971 it would remove its forces from the East of the Suez Canal, which included the Per- sian Gulf.
Iran and the United States in the Persian Gulf: after the Islamic Revolution The history of direct and aggressive conflict between the Revolutionary Guards and the US Navy dates back to the Iran-Iraq War, the most well known one of which was the Revo- lutionary Guards Navy commandeered by Shahid Nader Mahdavi with the USAn Navy during which a US helicopter was shot down and most of the Iranian forces in these opera- tions were martyred (Fars News: 1392, 07, 1600038).
Reasons for the system’s failure - Centrality of Conflicts: the balance of power based political-security system in the Persian Gulf region is designed with a focus on traditional threats among governments during the Cold War and the particular condi- tions of the 1970s, 80s and 90s and with a lean to the demands and interests of trans- regional players and their regional allies.