The Analysis of the Relationship between Iran and the United States from the Perspective of Threat Balance (2016-2021)

Since 1979, the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran have adopted a hostile policy against each other, although, in different decades, this issue has been severe or weak. For this reason, the authors of this article have assessed the extent to which the two countries have been threatening each other based on Stephen Walt's theory of threat balance. In fact, this article seeks an answer to the question of how much threats these two countries have posed to each other during the period 2016-2021 based on Stephen Walt's theory of threat balance. To find the answer to this question, quantitative and qualitative indicators of threat balance theory variables including total strength, geographical proximity, invasive power and aggressive intentions have been measured. Finally, the findings of this paper show that, given the assumptions of the threat balance theory, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not an immediate and imminent threat to the United States during the above-mentioned period, but the United States of America can be a relative yet serious threat to the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The authors have tried to answer the above question using case study method.