International Sanctions and Eastward Orientation in Iran’s Foreign Relations (1989-2013)

This article tries to study the impact of international sanctions on the orientation of the East in foreign policy of our country, from the perspective of international political economy. In the same vein, the main question of the article is that "international sanctions during the period of 1989-2013, how has caused the eastward orientation in the economic and political relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran? The hypothesis is That "the subsequent international sanctions against the country in five different areas during the period of 1989-2013, by intensifying the barriers of relations with the West, has urged the elite to decide on foreign relations in the country to strengthen political and economic relations with the East." This hypothesis has been tested in the framework of the Neoclassic Realism. The results of the article indicate that the east ward orientation in our country's political and economic relations is less than a coherent and voluntary strategy from within and more than a response to the intensification of international sanctions against our country.