The Impact of the Presence of the United States in West Asia on Iran's Regional Policies and Strategies

The Middle East and West Asia region are known as sensitive regions with global effects. This importance is not unique to the contemporary era; Rather, since ancient times, this region has been the crossroads of the interests of the great powers, and the developments in this region have always had irreversible effects on global dynamics. After the 9/11 attacks, the United States first invaded Afghanistan militarily to include the concept of counter-terrorism in its defense and security policies, and in 2003 overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Apart from the collapse of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Ba'athist regime in Iraq, these two military strikes had another consequence: the growing presence of the United States in the Middle East in general and West Asia in particular. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the US presence in the West Asian region on the strategies and policies of the regions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Accordingly, the main question in this study is what effect has the presence of the United States in the West Asian region had on the regional strategies of the Islamic Republic? To answer this question, a review of the strategies and actions of the Islamic Republic shows that by interpreting this presence as a security threat, the country has tried to strike a balance of power with the United States at three levels: political, military and economic.