Stability and fluidity of intentions in foreign policy; analysis of Saudi Arabia's approach towards the Islamic Republic of Iran

International units generally do not have a relatively accurate understanding of the intentions and purposes of other actors in the international system. The main reason for this fact is that generally correct and accurate strategies for gaining a correct understanding of this issue are not foreseen in international theories. Even well-known theorists such as Mearsheimer or Jervis have expressed their inability to gain a complete understanding of the intentions of actors. However, there are different approaches and theories with the help of which one can gain a level of understanding of the intentions and purposes of actors in the international system, which significantly contributes to the decision-making process in foreign policy. This is especially true for Iran. Saudi Arabia, which has gradually improved its relations with Iran in recent years and has changed its course from a cycle of tension and aggression to peace and cooperation, is one of the best case studies in the field of understanding strategic intentions. Therefore, the present article has examined this change and examined how the behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran affects the strategic objectives of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the main goal of this article is to understand the strategic intention of the Saudi government towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. In other words, the present article tries to understand the important factors on which the strategic intention of the Saudi government towards Iran is formed, and to achieve a correct understanding of the strategic intention of this country towards Iran. In this regard, several valuable works have been published that provide better results for the upcoming article.

• Methodology

Given that the aim of this article is to present an approach to better understand the intentions in foreign policy of countries and in this regard uses the Saudi government as a case study, the research method of this article is also based on an instrumental qualitative case study. In the instrumental qualitative case study method, the author tries to explain a specific topic, issue or approach by examining an organization, country, individual, etc., so that he can generalize or generate a theory through it. In fact, the purpose of presenting a case in this method is to facilitate the understanding of a topic.

• Result and discussion

The intentions of international actors in foreign policy are shaped by a diverse range of variables, the precise identification of which is accompanied by complex difficulties. Intentions that are based on identity resources are fixed, while those that are based on strategic rationality are variable and fluid. Governments generally stratify their intentions and do not necessarily pursue their fundamental and strategic intentions. The Saudi government has shown different behaviors in recent years that have made it necessary to understand the strategic intent of this country. The findings based on the qualitative instrumental method of the study showed that although the Saudi government considers Iran as its geopolitical and identity enemy from a psychological perspective, it is now trying to make decisions based on strategic rationality. Therefore, identity-based intentions based on strategic rationality have become passive and fluid intentions have become active.