Biannual of Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs Institute for Strategic 26 Research Vol. 8. No.2. Summer &Fall 2017 Advisory Board Mohsen Rezaee Mirghaed, Kamal Kharazi, Ali Akbar Velayati, Ahmad Vahidi, Saeed Jalili, Publisher Ali Shamkhanim, Hosein Amirabdolahian Institute for Strategic Research Editorial Board Expediency Council Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour Professor, University of Tehran Managing Director Gulshan Dietl Mohsen Rezaee Mirghaed Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University Associate Professor, Mohammad Marandi Imam Hossein University Professor, University of Tehran Jamshid Momtaz Professor, University of Tehran Editor-in-Chief Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour Mohammad Javad Zarif Professor of the University of Professor, School of International Relations Tehran Mohiaddin Mesbahi Professor, Florida International University Hosein Salimi Professor, Allameh Tabatabii University Chairman of advisory board Seyed Jalal Dehghani Mohammad Nazari Professor, Allameh Tabatabii University Naser Hadian Director of Executive Affairs Assistant professor, Universuty of Tehran Hadi Gholamnia Vitaly Naumkin Copyediting Professor, Moscow State University Zeinab Ghasemi Tari Hassan Hoseini Assistant Professor, University of Tehran Layout and Graphics Mohammad Ali Shirkhani Najmeh Ghaderi Professor, University of Tehran Foad Izadi Professor, University of Tehran Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs (IRFA) achieved the highest ISSN: 2008-8221 scientific grade from the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran since 22 February 2012.Articles Published in this Journal are Indexed at the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC). Publication Address: No. 376,Taleghani Ave, Before Hafez Bridge, Tehran, Iran Institute for Postcode: 1591816911 Tel: +98 21 86046957 Strategic Research Website: irfajournal.csr.ir Email: [email protected] & [email protected] Price: 200000 Rials Contents The Policy of the United States Congress Toward Iran (2005-2017) 5 Ehsan Egazi, Reza Simbar, Arsalan Ghorbani, Ahmad jansiz Syrian Crisis and Russian-Iranian Strategic Partnership 25 Seyed Hasan Mirfakhraei Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy: Dialectics of Agent-Structure 51 Mehdi Kamkar, Rahman Najafi Sayar Cultural Diplomacy; Iran-Japan Relations during the Sanction Period 79 Faezeh Janati Moheb, Seyed Abbas Araghchi An Iranian Narrative of Tehran-Riyadh Tention Escalation 111 Ali Omidi, Zahra Aghmohamadi The Political economy of Iran and Germany Relations: The Case of Foreign Investment 139 Majid Rnjbardar, Davood Aghaee Refferees of this Issue Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour Gulshan Dietl Mohammad Marandi Jamshid Momtaz Mohammad Javad Zarif Mohiaddin Mesbahi Hosein Salimi Seyed Jalal Dehghani Naser Hadian Vitaly Naumkin Mohammad Ali Shirkhani Foad Izadi The Policy of the United States Congress Toward Iran (2005-2017) Ehsan Egazi Reza Simbar Arsalan Ghorbani Ahmad jansiz Abstract The US Congress, as a legislative pillar of democracy, has a significant impact on American foreign policy. Nevertheless, the role of the US Congress is not limited to domestic politics rather they would usually shape the country’s foreign policy. Since the Islamic Revolution, the US Congress has adopted an aggressive approach towards Iran. The US legislative institution, as a domestic source of US foreign policy, has shaped US foreign policy toward Iran by imposing economic sanctions. The purpose of the research is to increase the Iranian officials’ understanding of US domestic politics. Therefore, the main question of the research is concerned with the impact of the US congress on American foreign policy towards Iran (2005-2017). In order to answer the main question, the authors would use neo-classical theory. In addition to systemic factors, neoclassic realism considers domestic factors to explain foreign policy. The findings of research suggest that the US congress has encouraged the US administrations to pursue an aggressive policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran by imposing economic sanctions and persuading the US administrations to implement them. Keywords: Congress, US Foreign Policy, Islamic Republic of Iran, Neoclassic Realism, Foreign Policy Phd in International Relations, [email protected] Professor of International Relations, [email protected] Associate professor of International Relations, [email protected] Associate professor of international relations, jansiz@[email protected] Received: 29/8/2019 Accepted: 28/10/2019 Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summer-Fall 2017, pp. 5-24 Introduction Ever since the founding fathers established the United States as a nation-state, they decided to apply the principle of Montesquieu’s ideas on the separation of powers in the US political structure. Among the governmental powers, the Congress plays an exclusive role in the US political system to the extent that according to the US constitutions, this body is prioritized over the executive power and Supreme Court. For many years The Congress enjoys legal tools to restrict the authority of other branches of power, particularly that of the White House domestic and foreign policy sphere. Generally, when the Americans feel foreign threats and/or they suspect that internationalism may create a threat, they pay less attention to foreign policy recommendations coming from the White House. In such cases, they highly valorize the Congress activism in the area of foreign policy. It is hardly expected that in such conditions, disengagement from the international system imposes an enormous cost and above all, they believe that the US remains on the safe side. However, when the public believes that the country is facing a foreign threat, they feel the need for a powerful president. While any disagreement in the Congress is often welcomed at the time of peace, the disagreement would have best interpreted as inappropriate interference in vain or the worst interpreted as an “unpatriotic” action at the time of threat. In such conditions, the members of the Congress could feel the changes in the public opinion on the presidency and try to avoid being on the wrong side of the history because it may result in failure in the upcoming election. On occasions when the US is safe from the immediate foreign threat, we witness the period of Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs / 7 “Congressional government”, “Congressional supremacy” and “government by Congress”; however, the power of making decision in foreign policy will be shifted to the White House at time of the crises such as 9/11 (Lindsay, 2012: 227-230) Taking into consideration the aggressive foreign policy of the US adopted against Iran after the Islamic revolution, it is of high importance to notify the impact of the US political domestic institutions on the foreign policy of this country against Iran. Therefore, this research attempts to assist the Iranian policymakers to pay more attention to the impact level of the US domestic policy on its foreign policy against Iran. One of the objectives of this research is finding an answer to the question that in case of any changes in the US domestic policy, should the Iranian policymakers expect any changes in the US foreign policy, or they should assume that the US foreign policy against Iran remains unchanged and consistent regardless of its domestic policy. Moreover, this research is going to minimize or possibly eliminate the Iranian policymakers' misunderstanding as for the US foreign policy against Iran. Due to different reasons such as the Iran nuclear program, the US has tried to apply various means like economic sanctions to prevent Iran’s empowerment in military and economic sectors within the last decade. The US has also been afraid of increasing Iran's influence in the region. Accordingly, the US has tried to have a tougher approach to make it impossible for Iran to achieve its goals. Taking into account the role played by the Congress as one of the internal foundations of the US foreign policy against Iran, this research analyzes the impact of the Congress on this process during the last decade. Accordingly, this research is going to find an answer to the question that how much the US Congress has affected the US foreign policy adopted against Iran (2005-2017). The authors will argue that the US Congress has formed the aggressive policy against Iran through the financial instruments including Iran sanction, military budget allocation to confront 8 / The Policy of the United States Congress Toward Iran (2005-2017) Iran, democracy promotion, and providing consultation for the White House. This article attempts to review the role played by the US Congress as one of the domestic resources of the US foreign policy, as notified by James N. Rosenau, on the foreign policy of the US against Iran. Taking into account the Congress extensiveness, this research has particularly and technically focused on the role played by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs Committee as the most important members of the Congress in formation of foreign policy. The Congress is a "bicameral legislature" which was founded in Connecticut upon a compromise. Accordingly, the legislation right of the states with more population is protected through the establishment of the House of Representative and the request made by the small states for equality in legislation is met by the establishment of Senate. This structure reflects the orientation of the social class of the US founding fathers. They were looking for a balance between the interests gained by the regular