ایران و لابی‌گری در اتحادیه اروپایی: ظرفیت‌ها و سازوکارها

This article seeks to explain the importance and role of lobbying at the European Union level and assess Iran's capacities and mechanisms for engaging in this field. In essence, it aims to answer the key question of how, despite the fragility of relations, Iran and the European Union can reach a common understanding of bilateral, regional, and international issues and challenges, and shape their bilateral relations towards a positive trajectory. The hypothesis of the present paper can be stated as follows: while paying attention to the two elements of "dialogue" and "diplomacy" with the European Union, Iran also needs to leverage the component of "lobbying" through the capacities of non-state actors. Given the current level of relations and available statistics, it seems that, in the first instance, the Islamic Republic of Iran has the ability to utilize the capacities of think tanks and research institutes based in the European Union. This is because the primary function of think tanks is to provide information, solutions, and policy recommendations to the EU's executive bodies, and Iran's coherent and targeted collaboration with European think tanks will help the West better understand Iran's behavior and facilitate cooperation on bilateral, regional, and international levels in various thematic areas. In the present research, the "access" theory has been employed to demonstrate the importance of lobbying at the European Union level and its role in improving relations between Iran and the EU. Methodologically, this is an analytical study in which documentary and library research methods have been used to gather information.