Factors affecting moderation discourse in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; based on James Rosena's theory

This paper aims to study the factors which influence the moderation discourse in the foreign policy of the 11th administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as their effects. We use James Rosena’s proposition as a representative for integration of micro and macro analysis levels to investigate and analyze the foreign policy of Moderation Administration. The main research question asks which of the 5 Rosena’s variables has most affected the moderation discourse in the foreign policy of the 11th administration. This study takes a descriptive analytical approach. Findings indicate that most major decisions in the Iranian foreign policy during the 11th administration such as nuclear negotiations, and the type of transaction with neighboring, regional and many European countries have been influenced by the variable of individual (i.e. politician) and, in particular, the president Hassan Rouhani. Consequently, the variable of role (i.e. the responsibilities of the president as a lawyer in charge of heading the nuclear negotiators, secretary of the National Security Supreme Council, and representative of the supreme leader in the National Security Supreme Council) has affected such decisions.