Iran: Cultural Values, Self images and Negotiation Behavior

AbstractIran holds a unique place in the study of the modern Middle East: it is a non-Arabcountry, but deeply involved in the heart of the Arab world; after the removal ofSaddam Hussein and the “repentance” of Mu’amar Qaddafi, it remains the onlyovertly radical state in the region with a proclaimed ideological anti-Americanagenda; it is the sole Shiite regime and the active “exporter” of Islamic radicalism andterrorism, not only to Shiite, but also to Sunnite Islamic movements; and it is activelyinvolved in attempts to disrupt the Israeli-Arab peace process. Above all of these, Iranis worthy of special interest as a regional power capable of creating high levels oftension in the sensitive area of the Persian Gulf, and as a country with an advancedclandestine nuclear weapons program.Current negotiations with Iran on these issues warrant an effort to decipher theIranian negotiation code. This study attempts to do so by analysis of key elements ofIranian worldviews, beliefs, mores, communication conventions, social behavior,cultural, linguistic, and social heritage and culture-dependent bargaining norms thatthe well acculturated and socialized Iranian would perceive as comprising those traitsof Iranian “national character” (with all the caveats due to such a concept) whichmay affect Iranian negotiation tactics.Iran’s interaction with its neighbors and other nations is, first and foremost,influenced by a constant tension between Persian and Islamic identities andbetween conflicting self–images of national superiority and subjugation. On onehand, it bases its claim for predominance in the Middle East on a highly accentuatedIslamic-Shiite identity. On the other hand, Iranian nationalism is highly exclusive.While Iranians identify pro forma with Muslims in general and Shiites in particular,the scope of Iranian national identity remains that of the Persian-speaking Shiiteswithin the borders of Iran, and Iranian expatriates. Furthermore, Iranian nationalidentity projects a sense of superiority towards its Arab neighbors and pride of its pre-Islamic imperial past. For Iranians, all that was great in what is commonly referred toas Islamic or Arab culture was actually Persian. This self-image even holds certainracial overtones: it links Iran to a primordial “Aryan” world of settled civilization, farsuperior to the "primitive" nomadic Arabian culture, but at the same time, one that hasbeen conquered, and humiliated by outside forces.Similar contradictions exists in the Iranian attitude towards the West and itsculture; a mixture of admiration for its achievements in the very areas which Iranianculture prides itself (science and arts) along with rejection of its cultural sway and itspervasive influence within Iranian society and a sense of having been victimized andsidelined by the West. It is this very admiration, however, that brought Iraniannationalist intellectuals to liken Iranian civilization to a body that is affected by apoison or virus of the West (gharb-zadeggi or "Westoxicated"). The Iranian attitudetowards Israel and the Jews is also a mixture of religious and ethnic animosity andof admiration.These perceptions have contributed to a tendency in Iranian political thinkingtowards conspiracy theories, which attribute the course of contemporary Iraniani