EU-Iran relations in the light of transatlantic relations (Case study of the Obama and Trump eras)

Subject Areas : International Relations

Ebrahim Bagheri ¹ ( Ph.D Candidate in Regional Studies- European Studies- Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran- Senior Researcher on European Affair )
seyed Davood Aghaee ² ( regional study group - polithcal science - faculty of law and political Science University of Tehran )

Received: 2022-01-21 Accepted : 2022-12-11 Published : 2022-11-22

Keywords: ", Islamic Republic of Iran", European Union", Transatlantic Relations", United States of America", Complex Interdependence",

Abstract :

The present study seeks to answer the question why the European Union, despite its political will to expand relations with Iran and in particular its efforts to maintain BRICS within the framework of the designed mechanisms, failed to exercise its strategic independence and fulfill its obligations within BRICS. The findings show that the EU's lack of strategic independence is due to the EU's transatlantic dependence on three levels of institutional security deficit, asymmetric interdependence in the economic sphere, and the preferences of EU transnational corporations in relation to US markets. At the level of the institutional security deficit; Given the United States' security umbrella and lack of military-defense independence, the European Union is forced to adjust its approaches to US interests and goals. At the economic level; The interdependence of economic, trade, and investment interactions on both sides of the Atlantic and the asymmetry of this relationship (US strategic economic superiority) have severely limited the possibility of EU economic action independence. The third level concerns the preferences of the market and the private and transnational corporations of the European Union and the rational and risk-taking pattern of companies under secondary US sanctions, which has been a major obstacle to the independence of the EU approach to Iran. The research method is descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is library. In this regard, books, articles, documents, Internet resources and comments of relevant officials have been used to collect data.