Abstract:

The South Caucasus region has become one of the important directions of Iran's foreign policy since 1991. Iran is closely interested in the processes taking place in the region. Because Iran is connected with the countries of the region by historical ties, neighborly relations and many common security interests. In the first years after the countries of the region regained their independence, analysts predicted that Iran would be able to establish closer ties with Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. Such predictions were based on the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a Muslim state and prefers an ideological approach to foreign policy. However, it soon became clear that Iran's foreign policy is undergoing a transformation. There are elements of the transition from idealism to pragmatism in the country's foreign policy. Contrary to expectations, Iran's relations with Christian Armenia began to develop better than Muslim Azerbaijan. The article examines the place of pragmatism in the foreign policy of Iran in the context relations with Armenia. At the same time, an analysis was made of the effectiveness of the idealist approach in the foreign policy of Armenia, as a secular state. The article proposes that, although the conceptual foundations of Iran's foreign policy are defined by the principles of idealism, they are pragmatic in their relations with Armenia.

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