Iran's Neutrality in Kuwait Occupation Crisis

A notable number of international relations analysts believe that Iranian foreign policy is based merely on ideological considerations. The present study aims to reject this claim by assessing the policy of neutrality Iran embraced during the Kuwait Occupation Crisis via a descriptive-analytical approach. This article seeks to find an answer to the question of how and why did Iran take a neutral stance in the mentioned crisis? According to the results, the subtle combination of ideological and rational behaviors of the foreign policy decision-makers led to maintaining the territorial integrity of the country and also the re-gaining of economic and military capabilities after the Iran-Iraq war. Findings also show that while some cognitive factors might have affected the secondary goals in the first stage, it never put the national security of the country at risk. Furthermore, after filtering the information, the ultimate decision could lead to maximal gain and minimal loss for Iran which was the key to Iran’s regional influence in the past 40 years.