Introduction
Hashemi Rafsanjani's rise to power coincided with important domestic and foreign developments. Globally, the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union were the most important changes. Domestically, the end of the Iran-Iraq War and the beginning of Ayatollah Khamenei's leadership created new conditions. In this atmosphere, Hashemi Rafsanjani's government paid attention to cooperative relations with Russia, especially in the military, nuclear, and political-economic fields. After the war, Iran began purchasing Russian warplanes and received about $1.9 billion in military equipment from Russia from 1990 to 1993. It also made nuclear agreements to complete the Bushehr power plant and numerous political cooperations with Russia.
Literature Review
The works that analyze Iran's foreign policy during the Hashemi Rafsanjani era are divided into three categories: first, our research focuses on domestic factors; second, studies that emphasize external factors; third, works that examine both categories. Masoud Mousavi Shafaei and Hajar Ardestani analyze the role of the middle class in the foreign policy of this period in an article and emphasize the priority of economic development, but there are shortcomings in not considering other domestic variables. Also, Ruhollah Ramezani, in his book, considers the change in foreign policy to be influenced by domestic factors and the change in decision-makers, and points to the joint role of Ayatollah Khamenei and Hashemi Rafsanjani. Amir Mohammad Haji Yousefi claims in his article that the change in the international system after the collapse of the Soviet Union has led Iran towards pragmatism in foreign policy. He believes that the new structure of the regime affected Iran's foreign policy between 1991 and 2000, and the change from bipolar to unipolar has caused the Islamic Republic to reconsider its approaches.
Methodology
This study has attempted to analyze Iran's cooperative foreign policy toward Russia during the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani by identifying systemic variables at the system level and intervention variables at the domestic level. Based on the findings of this study, Iran's foreign policy toward Russia during the aforementioned period was guided by a set of systemic variables and intervention variables, such that domestic variables, as mediator variables, shaped the perception of Iranian leaders of the international system, and this perception ultimately led to Iran's foreign policy toward Russia.
Results
The study of "The policy and diplomatic interactions of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union during the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani" requires the selection and application of an appropriate theoretical framework in order to explain and elucidate the precise relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. Since the theory of "neoclassical realism" has a better ability to explain the subject due to its comprehensiveness and more detailed method in examining foreign policy, due to not being limited to independent variables and opening up space for other variables under the title of "intervening variables", this theory was chosen as the analytical framework of the present study. The analysis of Iran's foreign relations towards Russia within the framework of the theory of neoclassical realism involved identifying three categories of variables including systemic variables, intervening variables and dependent variables, which were examined in this study. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Islamic Republic of Iran, while continuing military relations with Russia, whose history dates back to the final years of the Soviet Union, also began cooperation on the nuclear issue, and at the political level, it prioritized cooperation with Russia in Central Asia and economic relations with the former Soviet republics. The question raised in this study was why Iran's foreign relations towards Russia during this period were a policy of cooperation and with an emphasis on the economy.
Conclusion
Neoclassical realism theory states that Iranian leaders’ perception of the international environment, influenced by their image, leads to foreign policy behavior. During the Hashemi Rafsanjani administration, the collapse of the Soviet Union was one of the most important variables that led to opportunities and threats for the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Khamenei saw the collapse as an opportunity to eliminate the hostility of the communist bloc and the Islamic awakening. In contrast, Hashemi Rafsanjani saw it as an opportunity to cooperate with Russia in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Their different views of the international system and the impact of previous policies were effective in shaping their approaches to global developments. The ideological view of Iranian leaders on the collapse of the Soviet Union included dimensions such as concern about American power in the region and uncertainty about the future of the international system. Cooperation with Russia was seen as a way to reduce American influence and its threats. Also, the Hashemite government's freedom of action, resulting from elite consensus, helped advance policies of cooperation with Russia.