Explaining Russia's Foreign Policy Approaches toward Iran Nuclear Dossier from Critical Geopolitics Perspective

The present study seeks to answer the question from the perspective of Critical Geopolitics how Russia's approaches towards Iran's nuclear dossier can be explained as a permanent member of the Security Council, a signatory of the JCPOA, and of course a mediator. Practical geopolitics, as one of the four research areas of critical geopolitics, will provide an answer to why Russia's foreign policy is pragmatic and "multivector". The findings of the study explain the oscillations of Russia's foreign policy towards Tehran with a focus on multivectorism, opportunism, and pragmatism, and while recognizing geopolitical and economic considerations in the foundations of Russia's foreign policy, it argues that these approaches still have limitations in explaining some aspects of Russia's foreign policy decisions and actions due to their materialistic foundations. In fact, Russia, with the role of a mediator, while trying to keep Iran in its orbit, also takes advantage of the nuclear dossier of Iran in regulating its relations with the West. The method of descriptive-analytical research and the method of data collection is library. In this regard, books, articles, documents, internet resources, and comments of experts and relevant authorities have been used to collect data.