Iranian Policies on Arabian Gulf andRegional Securityfrom the 1979 Revolution to the 2026 War
The Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat) recently published a research paper titled “Iranian Policies Toward the Security of the Arabian Gulf and Regional Security from the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the 2026 War,” prepared by Dr. Ashraf Mohammed Keshk, Director of the International and Strategic Studies Program at the Center. The study’s main argument is that Iran has consistently sought to shift the regional balance of power in its favor from the 1979 revolution up to the current war, through efforts to export the revolution to neighboring countries and its eight-year war with Iraq. It also violated all principles of good neighborliness, without showing a genuine desire to achieve and sustain regional security. This trajectory has culminated in Iran’s military confrontation with Israel in 2025 and its ongoing confrontation with the United States and Israel in 2026. Iran continues to insist on maintaining all elements of regional dominance through its nuclear and missile programs and by threatening maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. Disrupting navigation in the Strait is considered a consistent policy in Iran’s regional and global strategy, which contradicts the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.
