The Islamic Republic of Iran's soft balancing strategies in countering the United States' plan to normalize the Zionist regime's relations with the Arabs
1
Postdoctoral Researcher in Political Science, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.
Abstract
Recent developments in the Middle East indicate a shift in regional coalition-building patterns and a shift by Arab countries toward normalizing relations with Israel; a process that began with the "Abraham Peace Initiative" and has greatly affected the geopolitical dimensions of the region. This process, with the joining of countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco is defined as a joint strategy to counter the regional influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran and reflects the United States' efforts to redesign the Middle East security order in the form of a new Arab-Hebrew axis. In such a context, the main question of this article is what components does the Islamic Republic of Iran use to implement a "soft balance" against this emerging hegemony, and how can these components play a role in weakening the normalization process? The research findings show that the Islamic Republic of Iran, by employing strategies of delegitimizing the Zionist regime, multi-layered diplomacy, supporting resistance groups, and the tactic of "entrapment diplomacy," has been able to challenge the process of normalizing relations between Arab countries and the Zionist regime through soft balancing. The research method is qualitative and descriptive-analytical analysis with a review of library resources and case studies.
hafezi, S. M., & niakooee, A. (2025). The Islamic Republic of Iran's soft balancing strategies in countering the United States' plan to normalize the Zionist regime's relations with the Arabs. American Strategic Studies, (), -.
MLA
seyed morteza hafezi; amir niakooee. "The Islamic Republic of Iran's soft balancing strategies in countering the United States' plan to normalize the Zionist regime's relations with the Arabs", American Strategic Studies, , , 2025, -.
HARVARD
hafezi, S. M., niakooee, A. (2025). 'The Islamic Republic of Iran's soft balancing strategies in countering the United States' plan to normalize the Zionist regime's relations with the Arabs', American Strategic Studies, (), pp. -.
VANCOUVER
hafezi, S. M., niakooee, A. The Islamic Republic of Iran's soft balancing strategies in countering the United States' plan to normalize the Zionist regime's relations with the Arabs. American Strategic Studies, 2025; (): -.
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