Vali Golmohammadi Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at Tarbiat Modares University, Department of International Relations, Tehran, and a visiting scholar at Bilkent University, Ankara. He is a lecturer at the World Studies Faculty of Tehran University and Senior Fellow in the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Institute for Political and International Studies of Irans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
EDUCATION
PhD
International Relations
International Relations, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Arts and Humanities, Political Science and International Relations, Political Science and International Relations
9
Scopus Publications
195
Scholar Citations
6
Scholar h-index
6
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
A Status Quo Power in a Changing Region: Iran's Regionalism in the South Caucasus Vali Golmohammadi, Hamidreza Azizi Nationalities Papers, 2026 Following the 2020 Karabakh War, the emerging geopolitical realities compelled Iran to recalibrate its South Caucasus policy, prompting a shift away from its longstanding posture of neutrality. Despite the potential for Tehran to engage in cooperation through proposed regionalist projects by other actors, a significant shift towards regionalism in Iran’s approach to the South Caucasus remains elusive. This article delves into two primary sets of factors to understand the reasons behind this absence of regionalism in Iran’s foreign policy towards the South Caucasus. The first set encompasses general approaches in Iran’s foreign policy and the impact of domestic political dynamics on their development. It discusses Iran’s perceived impossibility of aligning with the South Caucasus states, the absence of a robust neighborhood policy, and Iran’s strategic isolation in the region, attributed to its unique political system and the ideological stance of its ruling elite. The second set examines external dynamics, including constant international pressure on the Islamic Republic, Iran’s deep-seated ideological and security attachment to the Arab Middle East, and the fluctuating nature of Tehran’s relations with the West. Collectively, these factors significantly limit Iran’s capacity to craft a coherent strategy for regional integration in the South Caucasus.
How Iran Perceives Turkey’s Rise in the South Caucasus Vali Golmohammadi, Sergey M. Markedonov, and Russia in Global Affairs, 2024 As the geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus continues to evolve, multiple divergent interests are bringing new dynamics into the Iran-Turkey relations. The article explores Iran’s changing perceptions concerning the South Caucasus in general and Turkey’s assertive geopolitical activism in the region, in particular. The authors argue that, given Turkey’s increasing influence in the South Caucasus and Iran’s decreasing footprint in the region, the current geopolitical and geo-economic trends are likely to bring more conflict into the Iran-Turkey regional rivalry. Tehran is apprehensive of several key insecurities stemming from Ankara’s growing activism in the South Caucasus. Apart from historical disagreements between Iran and Turkey over the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the East-West transit corridors and pan-Turkism in a bigger picture, Tehran perceives the underlying developments in the region as part of the West’s “geopolitical plot” of containing Iran, in which Turkey plays a strategic role. Consequently, the South Caucasus is increasingly becoming an additional source of regional confrontation between Iran and Turkey.
The Regional-Supremacy Trap: Disorder in the Middle East Seyed Masoud Mousavi Shafaee, Vali Golmohammadi Middle East Policy, 2022 This article analyzes the logic of recent instability and disorder in the Middle East. It offers two interrelated arguments. First, the region has turned into a battle zone in the aftermath of US retrenchment. The United States and other external powers refrained from direct engagement in shaping Middle Eastern order and, therefore, aspirant regional powers were prompted to redesign that order. Second, what makes instability and disorder a geopolitical feature of the Middle East is the “regional‐supremacy trap,” the seduction of a power vacuum and a desire for regional hegemony, a trap that draws all influential actors into a series of endless and cumulative conflicts. According to our findings, there is a meaningful relationship between the instability and the regional power struggle for supremacy in the post‐American Middle East. As there is no sign of cooperative mechanisms for shaping the regional order by the major Middle Eastern actors, the syndrome of disorder will continue for the foreseeable future.
Turkish-Russian Relations in the Post-Western World; from Geopolitical Rivalry to Strategic Partnership ولی گل محمدی Central Eurasia Studies, 2021 در این نوشتار بهدنبال درک نظاممند ماهیت مشارکت راهبردی ترکیه و روسیه در شرایط گذار نظام بینالملل هستیم. برخلاف بسیاری از دیدگاههای غالب که از چرخش ژئوپلیتیکی سیاست خارجی ترکیه به اوراسیا و پدیدارشدن روابط راهبردی میان ترکیه و روسیه سخن میگویند، در این نوشتار چنین روندی را نه چرخشی محوری بلکه واکنشی پویا به گذار در نظام بینالملل، پویاییهای سیاست داخلی و تحولهای ژئوپلیتیکی محیط پیرامونی دو قدرت نوپدید اوراسیایی میدانیم. با بهرهگیری از چارچوب مفهومی «مشارکت راهبردی» به مطالعۀ محدودیتهای راهبردی در شکلدهی به مشارکت راهبردی پایدار میان دو قدرت اوراسیایی تجدیدنظرطلب در یک محیط جدید بینالمللی و منطقهای میپردازیم. در پاسخ به این پزسش که آیا ترکیه و روسیه میتوانند به شریکان راهبردی یکدیگر تبدیل شوند؟ در این نوشتار این ایدۀ اصلی را مطرح میکنیم که نزدیکی راهبردی ترکیه و روسیه خروجی برهمکنش بازتوزیع قدرت و ثروت بینالمللی، بحران در اتحاد فراآتلانتیکی، ژئوپلیتیک درحال تغییر منطقهای و پویاییهای سیاست داخلی ترکیه است و بهضرورت بهمعنای ظهور مشارکت راهبردی بین دو قدرت اوراسیایی در یک نظام بینالملل پساغربی نیست. هرچند شرایط نوین بینالمللی بسترهای همگرایی ترکیه و روسیه را فراهم ساخته است، اما روابط دو کشور همچنان دارای عناصر مهمی از مناقشه و رقابت و متأثر از وضعیت روابط آنها با غرب است. در این میان، نقش روابط نامتقارن اقتصادی، واگرایی راهبردی در حوزۀ انرژی، عاملیت ناپایدار رهبری اقتدارگرایانۀ پوتین و اردوغان و همچنین رقابتهای ژئوپلیتیکی در معادلات در حال تغییر دریای سیاه، قفقاز جنوبی، شرق مدیترانه و خاورمیانه برجسته میشود.
Trump’s “maximum pressure” and anti-containment in Iran’s regional policy Hamidreza Azizi, Vali Golmohammadi, Amir Hossein Vazirian Digest of Middle East Studies, 2020 Two years after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. President Donald Trump's “maximum pressure” campaign has failed to change Iran's regional behavior, bring Tehran back to the negotiation table, curb its nuclear and missile programs, and counter Iran's proxy influence in the region. Instead, Iran has adopted a “maximum resistance” strategy to deal with Washington's pressure. According to the Neorealist school of thought in International Relations (IR), rising systemic or structural pressure on a given state is expected to alter its policies or even its regime. The case of Iran appears to challenge this expectation. This article suggests that Iran has adopted an “anti‐containment” strategy to deal with the U.S. pressure. The strategy is based on asymmetric deterrence, the main pillars of which are employing local allied forces and enhancing air and naval deterrence capabilities. Meanwhile, Iran's military–security establishment has gained the upper hand in dealing with the United States, sidelining the diplomatic apparatus. This situation bears the risk of a confrontation between Iran and the United States while leaving no space for meaningful diplomatic engagement.
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Prospects for change and continuity Vali GOLMOHAMMADİ All Azimuth, 2019 Review
 article of two books:1.   Mahmood
 Sariolghalam, The Foreign Policy of
 the Islamic Republic of Iran: A Theoretical Revision and the Coalition Paradigm
 (Tehran: Center for Strategic Research, CSR Press, 2005, 236 pp.). 
 
 
 
 
 
 2.     
 Shahram
 Akbarzadeh and Dara Conduit, eds. Iran
 in the World: President Rouhani’s Foreign Policy (repr., Houndmills,
 Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, 206 pp.,
 USD 79.20, eBook).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
The swing State and the Dynamics of Turkish Foreign Policy (Case Study of the Ukraine War) MA Ghanamizadeh Fallahi, V Golmohammadi, V Hosseinzadeh The Journal of Foreign Policy 39 (4), 175-198 , 2026 2026
Iran and the Caucasus Regional Corridors: Opportunities and Challenges, Political and International Approaches, Spring, Vol 18, No 1 V Hosseinzadeh, V Golmohammadi, B Nasiri Lotum Journal Homepage: piaj. sbu. ac. ir P-ISSN, 94-116 , 2026 2026
A Status Quo Power in a Changing Region: Iran’s Regionalism in the South Caucasus V Golmohammadi, H Azizi Nationalities Papers, 1-14 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Exigency pragmatism M Najafi, V Golmohammadi, SM Mousavi Shafaie, M Eslami International Quarterly of Foreign Relations 17 (2), 225-255 , 2025 2025
Requirements for the Formation of a Strong Region in the Persian Gulf Subordinate System V Golmohammadi, N Khorshidi Political Organizing of Space 7 (3), 151-176 , 2025 2025
The Social System of Afghanistan and Its Impact on the Comprehensive Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran M Rahimi, M Eslami, V Golmohammadi Political studies of Islamic world 14 (1), 55-80 , 2025 2025
Swing Activism: The logic of coalition building in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan V Golmohammadi, MA Ghanamizadeh Fallahi Middle East Studies 32 (1), e225853 , 2025 2025
Hydro-political Security Complex Impact on Water Interaction Mechanisms in the Jordan Basin M Qanbari, V Golmohammadi, SM Mousavi-Shafaee POLITICAL QUARTERLY 55 (1), 243-215 , 2025 2025
Examining the Influence of Iranian and Chinese Strategic Cultures on Their Bilateral Strategic Partnership R Salimi, SM Mosavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, B Sazmand Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs 15 (2), 425-443 , 2024 2024
China's de-dollarization policy and its impact on the hegemony of the US dollar SH Salehi, SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, AM Haji-Yousefi Journal of Countries Studies 2 (2), 189-220 , 2024 2024 Citations: 3
Hydropolitical Security Complex and Water Interaction Mechanisms in the Euphrates Basin M Qanbari, V Golmohammadi, M Mousavi Shafaee, MR Shahbazbegian Middle East Studies 31 (2), 115-134 , 2024 2024
The Influence of the International Order on the Strategic Partnership between Iran and China R Salimi, SM Mosavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, B Sazmand International Relations Researches 14 (1), 35-62 , 2024 2024
The Impact of Techno-Nationalism on US-China Economic Competition (with an Emphasis on the Semiconductor Sector) SH Salehi, SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, AM Hajiyousefi International Political Economy Studies 6 (2), 607-637 , 2024 2024 Citations: 4
Artificial Intelligence Governance in the Digital Era: Evaluating US Strategies and Approaches S Soleimanzadeh, M Eslami, MM Shafaee, V Golmohammadi FOREIGN RELATIONS 16 (2), 193-224 , 2024 2024 Citations: 2
Iran in the Era of Central Eurasian Connectivity V Golmohammadi The Yerevan Primer, 23 , 2024 2024
How Iran Perceives Turkey’s Rise in the South Caucasus V Golmohammadi, SM Markedonov Russia in Global Affairs 22 (1), 152-175 , 2024 2024 Citations: 23
The Role of Peripheral Regions in the Continuity of the Afghanistan Conflict I NAJAFI, M Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, V Hossienzadeh Middle East Studies 30 (2), 219-241 , 2023 2023
The Role and Status of the Economy in Iran's National Power SH Salehi, SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, AM Haji-Yousefi International Relations Researches 13 (2), 137-170 , 2023 2023 Citations: 2
منطقهایشدن مداخلۀ قدرتهای بزرگ و سیاست خاورمیانهای روسیه گلمحمدی, ولی, آرم, آرمینا پژوهش نامه ایرانی سیاست بین الملل 11 (2), 367-393 , 2023 2023
Regionalization of Great Powers Intervention and Russia's Middle East policy V Golmohammadi, A Arm IRANIAN RESEARCH LETTER OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 11 (2), 367-393 , 2023 2023 Citations: 1
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Prospects for change and continuity V Golmohammadi All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 8 (1), 93-102 , 2019 2019 Citations: 47
Trump’s “maximum pressure” and anti‐containment in Iran’s regional policy H Azizi, V Golmohammadi, AH Vazirian Digest of Middle East Studies 29 (2), 150-166 , 2020 2020 Citations: 32
How Iran Perceives Turkey’s Rise in the South Caucasus V Golmohammadi, SM Markedonov Russia in Global Affairs 22 (1), 152-175 , 2024 2024 Citations: 23
The Regional‐Supremacy Trap: Disorder in the Middle East SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi Middle East Policy 29 (1), 61-73 , 2022 2022 Citations: 16
The South Caucasus in the regionalism of Iran's foreign policy V Golmohammadi, H Azizi Central Eurasia Studies 15 (1), 305-281 , 2022 2022 Citations: 13
Erdoganism and understanding the Turkish Middle East policy V Golmohammadi, SMK Sajjadpour, SM MOUSAVI Strategic Studies Quarterly 19 (373), 69-92 , 2016 2016 Citations: 12
Political consideration and development of economic relations, economic cooperation capacities of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan T Lotfi, V Golmohammadi, H Sarmadi Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 7 (3), 72-82 , 2016 2016 Citations: 6
Foreign Policy Strategies towards Economic Development; Comparative Study of the Republic of Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran (2004-2013) V Golmohammadi, H Atanejad, H Naghib Sharbabaki Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 6 (3), 711-719 , 2015 2015 Citations: 6
The clash of roles in the Middle East; Understanding the tension in US-Turkey relations V Golmohammadi Strategic Studies Quarterly 22 (85), 107-133 , 2019 2019 Citations: 5
The Legitimacy of Economic Sanctions against Islamic Republic of Iran in the Light of International Economic Law: Legal Effects and Economics Consequences V Golmohammadi, P Imani Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 7 (3), 60-71 , 2016 2016 Citations: 5
The Impact of Techno-Nationalism on US-China Economic Competition (with an Emphasis on the Semiconductor Sector) SH Salehi, SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, AM Hajiyousefi International Political Economy Studies 6 (2), 607-637 , 2024 2024 Citations: 4
China's de-dollarization policy and its impact on the hegemony of the US dollar SH Salehi, SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, AM Haji-Yousefi Journal of Countries Studies 2 (2), 189-220 , 2024 2024 Citations: 3
The Crisis in Transatlantic Relations and the Rise of Eurasianism in Turkish Foreign Policy V Golmohammadi Geopolitics Quarterly 18 (1), 259-288 , 2022 2022 Citations: 3
Transformation in Turkey's Strategic Culture and its National Security Doctrine; A Pivotal Turn or Balancing in Foreign Policy? V Golmohammadi Strategic Studies Quarterly 24 (2), 73-104 , 2021 2021 Citations: 3
Water scarcity in the Middle East: Beyond an environmental risk V Golmohammadi Global Policy 20 (3), 21-31 , 2021 2021 Citations: 3
Artificial Intelligence Governance in the Digital Era: Evaluating US Strategies and Approaches S Soleimanzadeh, M Eslami, MM Shafaee, V Golmohammadi FOREIGN RELATIONS 16 (2), 193-224 , 2024 2024 Citations: 2
The Role and Status of the Economy in Iran's National Power SH Salehi, SM Mousavi Shafaee, V Golmohammadi, AM Haji-Yousefi International Relations Researches 13 (2), 137-170 , 2023 2023 Citations: 2
Regime Security and the Logic of Alliances in the Middle East V Golmohammadi Strategic Studies Quarterly 23 (3), 105-132 , 2020 2020 Citations: 2
SECURITY DYNAMICS OF TURKISH-RUSSIAN RELATIONS (2001-2015) V Golmohammadi FOREIGN RELATIONS 7 (428), 85-117 , 2016 2016 Citations: 2
A Status Quo Power in a Changing Region: Iran’s Regionalism in the South Caucasus V Golmohammadi, H Azizi Nationalities Papers, 1-14 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1