Geopolitical Analysis of the Relation between the Countries of the North Indian Ocean on Policy Making in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Indian Ocean, as the third largest ocean in the world, has long been considered by the powers for its geopolitical and global position, and today it has become a competitive arena for the emerging powers. Asia's return to global attention, especially the Indian Ocean, is the result of Asia's increasing share of the global trade, large consumer markets due to large populations, the presence of emerging powers such as India, China and South Korea, the presence of busy waterways and the aggregation of energy fields on the continent. The Indian Ocean has four major waterways for international maritime trade, including the Suez Canal in Egypt, the Bab-el-Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen border), the Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman border) and the Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia border), which are important routes in the global petroleum trade. In addition to the geostrategic importance of this ocean and its vastness, one can not ignore the key role of supra-regional powers such as the United States, France and Britain, the military conflicts, the growing rivalry between India and China, the potential of a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan and surrounding influential countries. The competition and the economic and military growth of these powers have increased the importance of this region in the international system.The Political behavior of a country in the cross – border and global arena is derived from geopolitics and its goals. Today, the countries of the world are trying to take advantage of geopolitical factors and other factors affecting national power to adopt appropriate policies for comprehensive progress. Given the changes in the international system, Iran, in line with global policies, seeks to redefine politics and explains its regional and international role and position. Undoubtedly, maintaining and promoting such a position is possible only by presenting a new goal and surrendering to a new paradigm, namely access to a regional power. Iran’s transformation into a regional hegemon, of course, not mechanically and physically or purely ideologically, but in a way that can overtake rival powers in the region requires comprehensive planning.

Methodology of  this study is descriptive analytical and required information has been collected through library research . the information gathered from sources such as books,magazines online articles etc.

The policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the context of the past in using the opportunities, benefiting from high capacities and gaining maximum benefits in the North Indian Ocean are of low quality; and due to the existence of great economic powers such as China and Japan and emerging powers such as India, as well as the strong presence of the United States in this region, it has become one of the most important and even challenging indicators for Iran in the North Indian Ocean.

The present research, with the premise of the extensive competition between regional and supra-regional powers in the North Indian Ocean and the performane of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this region, first attempts to explain and analyze the geopolitical role of the North Indian Ocean in formulating policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and then it deals with the various aspects of geopolitical factors in Iran's role in the region. Finally, it provides solutions to improve the performance of the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this important area, namely the North Indian Ocean. In such circumstances, with the elimination of the  mentined challenges, Iran's flexibility and its attention to the global considerations and concerns as well as the globalization of regional governments, it can be expected that Iran, through strategic planning, will pave the way for the country's membership in the regional and supraregional economic unions in the North Indian Ocean in order to play a role in the country's economic development.