Iran and the Persian Gulf Security

The arab uprisings, and the one in bahrain in particular, have causedtensions between iran and saudi arabia. the bahraini government’s saudi-backed crackdown on pro-democracy protests has caused ties between iranand the persian gulf cooperation council (gcc) to turn somewhat hostilein nature. however, just a few years ago, the situation was very different,with iran being invited to a gcc summit. this paper intends to givecontext to the aforementioned development by analyzing its backgroundand dynamics of iran-gcc relations. to this aim, this paper will examine,review and analyze iranian foreign policy with regard to the security geopolitics of the persian gulf. in the course of history, the countries in theregion have undergone political, economic, security and even ideological upsand downs, which have led them to become the focus of major powers' attention. the region has also attracted attention due to its decisive rolefrom geopolitical, security and economic points of view. a look at the background of security arrangements in the region establishes that all designs by outside powers' and all extra-regional interference have beenfutile in bringing security and stability to the region. iran is among thepersian gulf littoral states which, due to their strategic location and possession of huge crude oil and natural gas reserves, enjoy a special status.any form of insecurity in the region will directly impact iranian interests.therefore, the strategy of the iranian government vis-à-vis the security ofthis important region is based on the expansion of regional cooperation andintra-regional security-building. in this regard, there has been a remarkable growth in political exchanges and interaction at high levels between theislamic republic of iran and other persian gulf states.