Mechanism & Consequences of Iranian Influence in the Middle East Author: Sattar Rahman, Published by: the European Centre for Middle East Studies, 2024.
Analytical Review by Silvia Sorrentino
Introduction
Mechanism & Consequences of Iranian Influence in the Middle East is a scientific article that, as the title already suggests, analyses the expansion of the Iranian influence in the South-West Asian region during our era. The author, Mr. Sattar Rahman, highlights different important factors that contributed to making the Iranian Republic such a relevant geopolitical pawn in the region, along to what it signifies for the neighboring States, such as Iraq and Lebanon. In the introduction, Mr. Rahman presents some general features belonging to the Iranian political tradition, both in national and foreign policy. Some important factors include the Imperial past, the role of the religious establishment and that of Western imperialism. Going deeper in his research, the author identifies three main factors to which he assigns the reasons of Iranian expansion: the economic factor, the military factor and the political one.
The economic factor
In this section, Rahman highlights the economic reasons behind the Iranian influence in the region. Something particularly relevant is the role of Western sanctions on Iran: accused of being “anti-democratic” and of trampling on human rights, the Iranian Republic has, indeed, suffered several restrictions that have negatively affected the whole population. As the author suggests, the country tries to enlarge its economic sphere in South-West Asia in order to keep on trading Iranian goods and services. The article also underlines the role of armed militias in the gearing, which appears to be both a matrix and an effect of this economic influence, often acting in context of social marginalization and informal economy, resulting in creating, in the neighboring countries, a parallel job market that is not based on nationality, but on sectarian belonging instead, as a trans-national phenomenon.
The military factor
The aforementioned armed militias are not only important for economic reasons; indeed, they are also performing more strictly military actions. According to Rahman, in fact, their presence in neighboring countries is important to guarantee Iranian security. For instance, it discourages the West from engaging in conflict with Iran, as it could represent the beginning of an open war in the whole region. Moreover, their distance from the actual Iranian land is functional to avoid bringing possible attacks on the Iranian territory and to keeping them far from it. The author highlights the importance of Iraq as a conflict scenario between Iran and the United States, where the armed militias are theoretically responding to the Iraqi government, but are practically an Iranian medium.
The political factor
Mr. Rahman emphasizes the role of ideology and anti-imperialist sentiments in the region, which are also strictly linked to the armed militias. The fact that the West is supporting the genocide of Palestinians causes an obvious increase in the presence of militias, which are supported not only by Iran but by the neighboring States as well, who integrate them in their political power to avoid possible military escalation. Other than the anti-imperialist sentiment, Iran also enhances its political propaganda in the region by leveraging the Shiite population and their sense of sectarian belonging. According to the author, though, the Iranian government is not actually helpful for the Shiite minorities in other countries, such as Lebanon and Iraq, where their quality of life seems to keep on being poorer compared to the other sects. In that sense, Rahman points out that the Iranian government is not actually interested in the well-being of the Shiite masses, rather than its own political interests.
Approach innovations
As previously specified, the examined article underlines the reasons behind the expansion of Iranian influence in the region of South-West Asia (commonly referred to as “Middle East”). The historical past of Iran as the Persian Empire seems to be particularly relevant to this end, which I found very interesting to consider. As a post-colonial scholar, indeed, I am usually more inclined to identify the anti-imperialistic and anti-Western sentiments as the main source of Iranian strategic affairs in the region, also considering how the Republic born in 1979 wanted to represent a clean cut from the corrupted and despotic regimes of the Shahs. Therefore, it is interesting to observe how the Imperial past and its main role in the region are also contributing in shaping modern day decisions in foreign policy, along with the fight against the neocolonial aims of the West.
On this latter subject, the article is implicitly comparing the Iranian influence on the area with the Western’s, identifying both of them as equally disruptive and dangerous to national sovereignties. It is common in literature to find analyses of either the consequences of Western imperialism or of Iranian autocracy, leaning either towards an anti-Western or to an anti-Iranian position; the article in question, on the other hand, offers a very innovative approach as it is able to criticize both without denying the existence of problematic issues in the opposite faction, resulting in a clearly neutral and really academic production. Particularly relevant is also the recognition of the deep interconnection between Western neocolonial aims and Iranian expansionist tendencies, where both feed on each other, resembling a very-small-scale new Cold War.
Another innovative approach is to be found in the union of the “classical” geopolitical analysis (the economic, military and political considerations) with the insertion of another kind of analysis, tending more to a cultural studies and sociological point of view, resulting in making of this an all-round approach, breaking the borders between different International Relations theories. Moreover, the article offers new ways of studying the subject highlighting factors that are not usually considered by traditional academic proposals, such as the impact on Shiite masses in neighboring States, or the usage of disseminated armed militias for both military and economic purposes.
Conclusion
Mechanism & Consequences of Iranian Influence in the Middle East by Sattar Rahman is a truly comprehensive article explaining the reasons and consequences of Iranian authority over the interested area. The author identifies several reasons behind it, spacing from economic factors to political and military ones, adding also a sociological perspective on the role of sectarian sentiments. The article is very innovative in its methodological approach, as it does not take any partisan stands and rather offers a very neutral analysis, without falling in any possible political narrative. It also offers new angles on the subject, introducing arguments that are still absent in the academic literature on the topic. Something particularly relevant emerging from the article is the interconnection between all of the factors and topics included, offering multiple levels of analysis, not only focusing on single aspects but rather considering the bigger picture, traveling across different social sciences.