Iran's launch of ‘Look East’ 2.0
The recent Regional Security Dialogue in Tehran is an indication that Iran sees security multilateralism as a mechanism to confront US pressure and maintain the regional balance of power in its favor.
Tehran hosted national security and deputy national security advisers from China, India, Russia and Afghanistan on Sept. 26, in what was billed as the first Regional Security Dialogue. According to Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, the one-day meeting, initiated by Iran, primarily aimed at “finding joint measures for fighting terrorism and preventing its spread to Central Asia, with a focus on Afghanistan.” The final communique, however, suggested a broader agenda than just Afghanistan.
Also included were efforts ranging from fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Syria to promoting trade and economic cooperation among the parties. It was also announced that the participants had agreed to establish a secretariat and to hold annual meetings at the same level on a rotating basis. As such, it could be said that Iran’s initiative has already been successful in forming a new multilateral framework, at least at the official level.
After taking a closer look at the agreements reached at the gathering, especially with regard to the broader regional and international framework of the dialogue, one could reasonably argue that the initiative reflects Iran’s changing perspective on the issue of regionalism as well as a new outlook on its relations with China and Russia.
Of note, the lineup of who was invited to the meeting suggests that Iran is in the process of re-implementing its Look East approach to foreign policy in a wholly upgraded format. Look East, originally Iran’s foreign policy orientation during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency (2005-13), aimed at consolidating Tehran’s ties with non-Western countries to escape the isolation resulting from its ever-deteriorating relations with European nations. With even China and Russia, the two most important non-Western powers, also demonstrating reluctance to support Iranian positions in a meaningful way, however, Ahmadinejad ultimately ended up with only a handful of Latin American and African partners.
