The Position of Human Rights Issue in the EU's Foreign Policy towards I. R. of Iran

Samoudi Pilehroud, Alireza

doi:10.22096/hr.2019.102929.1091

The Position of Human Rights Issue in the EU's Foreign Policy towards I. R. of Iran

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Alireza Samoudi Pilehroud

Assistant Prof., Department of Political Science, Mofid University. Iran

10.22096/hr.2019.102929.1091

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is one of the influential actors in the field of international relations that have managed to gain a more active role in international issues by formulating common foreign and security policy (CFSP) in Maastricht Treaty (1992), in the era after the Cold War. Considering its serious weaknesses regarding security and defense issues, the Union has endeavoured to exploit its normative power to gain more influence in particular thematic fields, and undoubtedly, specific geographical regions. Human rights and efforts for the promotion of democracy in different countries are two important tools in EU's hands that help it advance its desired policies. Also, the Union has always been one of main commercial allies of Islamic Republic of Iran in the last four decades. However, several issues and changes have caused tensions in Tehran-Brussels relations at several time intervals. Terrorism, human rights, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), and the disputes between Arab countries and Israel, are the four thematic fields of discord between Tehran and Brussels. In this study, our aim is to make an endeavour to answer this question: what has been the position of human rights issue in the relations between EU and Iran.

Keywords

The European Union

Normative Power

Human Rights

I. R. of Iran

Security

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