Abstract:
To study the advent of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979,it-is necessary not to ignore the requirements of the international system and the competition among power centers; Especially, the. United States played a· critical. role in world politics and the international system and maintained an extensive .and effective presence in Iran's domestic politics particularly following the1953 coup. The author believes that exploring the roots of the Islamic Revolution cannot be best conducted without paying due attention to the conflict between the Islamic Revolution and the United States. The author attempts to answer the question that what were thefactors of the strategic importance oflran in us foreign policy in the\Cold War era. He argues that constant aspects of this importance remained after 'the Revolution; but Iran's behavior changed the attitudes taken by the power centers toward Iran. The author.concludes that Americans efforted to keep the .Shah in power, but finally, they were forced to accept the dominance ofany anti-Soviet.group in Iran to keep the country stable and ind~pendent,.
Machine summary:
Iran;An Influencing Factorin US Foreign Policy Behavior It is obvious that since the Second World War, US strategy in the Middle East, particularly the Persian Gulf, has been based on the consolidation of its dominance to secure the flow of energy sources of the Persian Gulf (oil and gas), to protect jobs, revenues and to improve the living standards of Americans.
· The principles governing the foreign policy of the Carter administration toward the Middle East and especially Iran have been based on US general policy during the period after the Second World War. The relations between the two countries which had expanded significantlyunderthe Nixon and Ford administrations leading to increased cooperation between them, continued their course.
The developments in the Persian Gulf region during the first half of the 1970s as well as the role played by the Soviet Union which tried to expand its influence in the region through signing a friendship and cooperation treaty with Iraq in May 1972, stimulated great concerns in both Iran and the US; it prompted a visit by Nixon and Kissinger to Tehran leading to the conclusion of US largest military contract with a Middle Eastern country.
?' C) The Carter Administration and Change in Iran's Regional Standing in US Strategy In expressing the importance of Iran's status in the American and Western point of view, it was said that at the beginning of the 1970s, some factors' such as withdrawal of British forces, increase in oil price, Iran's geostrategic location, existing potential of Iranian forces compared to other regional countries and the declaration ofNixon doctrine, enhanced the position of Tehran's regime in US strategic military calculations in the region.