Mediation in International Disputes: Islamic Republic of Iran's Mediation Model in the Karabakh and Tajikistan Crises

Abstract

Mediation as a legal and political practice for the resolution of international disputes has a long history in different cultures including the Islamic culture. In this framework, the Islamic Republic of Iran mediated in two significant international disputes according to religious teachings and the expediencies of the Islamic state.While observing the main principles of mediation including those of impartiality and mutual consent, the Islamic Republic of Iran's mediation model involves a new approach to the subject of mediation based on collective mediation.

Due to its historical background and very complicated ethnic differences in Central Asia and the Caucasus, success in mediation depends on many internal factors as well as external actors. On this ground, the Islamic Republic of Iran tried to mediate in the two Karabakh and Tajikistan disputes relying upon its cultural and historical commonalties with them. Moreover, favorable conditions for mediation and the readiness of parties involved in both disputes were influential in this decision.

Full in Farsi