چکیده:
The intense rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is more complicated than disagreement over certain interests. The article tries to conceptualize the causes of tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. The main question of the article is ‘what are the root causes of the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East?’ The research hypothesis is ‘the root causes for the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East are more on ideational interests than material ones. In fact, different types of ideational resources are the basis for the competing interests of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the very strategic region. Thus, to understand the root causes of confrontational policy between Iran and Saudi Arabia, one should try to understand the key ideational elements of the two countries which affect their foreign policy orientations in the region.
خلاصه ماشینی:
The Soft power rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia (in countries such as Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and especially Iraq) produced two different discourses on the proper normative order that the region should follow: Preserving the status quo which is sought by Saudi Arabia or Changing the status quo (basis on resistance) which is supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran(1) (Altoraifi, 2012: 146).
These ideational sources have always played an important role in shaping foreign policy of Saudi Arabia especially after the Islamic Awakening.
Historically, Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, have been concerned about the Islamic Republic’s political mobilization of Shiite forces against their regimes.
Hence, in the present research, the ideational sources of Iranian and Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy, which led to soft power rivalry between the two countries in the Middle East, have been investigated.
Identity plays a crucial role in understanding Iran and Saudi Arabia's foreign policy behaviour in the Middle East region.
Based on the ideational sources of Iran and Saudi Arabia, it is concluded that the foreign policy behavior of the two countries are driven mostly by the ideational and normative elements which determine their ideational preferences and the role that each country should play in the regional and world politics.
It can be argued that the identity-based foreign policy of Iran and Saudi Arabia is the root cause of enduring tension between the two rival countries and affected alliance in the regional and international areas.