Iran does not need a nuclear deal to execute its regional policies. However, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) could have a great impact on its approach, thereby facilitating cooperation with Western and Arab countries.

A key argument of those brushing off the utility of regional collaboration with Iran is that Middle East policy falls under the purview of the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and not the Foreign Ministry. While this has been the case in past years, domestic and international developments — including the JCPOA — are changing dynamics.

Iranian sources have repeatedly conveyed to Al-Monitor that Tehran’s four-point plans for Yemen and Syria are not solely the work of the Foreign Ministry, but the result of coordination with the Quds Force. And if there were any doubts about the extent of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s portfolio, US Secretary of State John Kerry clarified things July 31 to The Atlantic: “Zarif specifically said to me … ‘If we get this [JCPOA] finished, I am now empowered to work with and talk to you about regional issues.’”

The 2012-13 initiative to bring together major regional powers — Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — for talks on Syria failed primarily due to Saudi reticence. Parallel meetings on Syria under UN auspices in Geneva, from which Iran was excluded, have also failed.