Continental Shelf Issue in Iran and Its Southern Neighbors

منطقه خليج فارس منطقه مركزي در شكلگيري روابط ژيوپليتيك ايران و اعراب است. خليج فارس به عنوان اولين و يكي از مهمترين منابع صادرات انرژي فسيلي در برگيرنده هشت كشور منطقه در گستره‌اي ژيوپليتيكي است كه مشتركات اقتصادي و استراتژيك و نگراني‌هاي امنيتي يكساني را دارا هستند. چالش‌هاي جغرافياي سياسي دريايي منطقه نياز به معيار و قراردادهاي مشخصي دارد تا اين منطقه ثباتي پايدار را تجربه كند. در حال حاضر اين چالش‌ها در چهار بخش نمايان هستند كه نتايج جغرافيايي آن در روابط ژيوپليتيك ايران و اعراب منطقه قابل مشاهده است. اين چهار بخش شامل مناقشات مذهبي، روابط ژيوپليتيك فرقه‌اي، ترويج مسيله هلال شيعي توسط اردن و اسراييل و درگيري‌هاي ارضي است كه بزرگترين آن بر سر نام گذاري خليج فارس بوجود آمده است. اين مقاله به بررسي روند مناقشات ارضي، اقدامات و توافقات مناطق دريايي در خليج فارس در پنج دهه اخير مي‌پردازد. مقررات جغرافياي سياسي دريايي خليج فارس نمونه خوبي براي مناقشات مرزي و حدي مناطق دريايي در جهان است.

The region of the Persian Gulf can be seen as a heartland under the geopolitical influence of which the Arab-Iranian relations are shaped. As one the world’s primary and most significant source of fossil-energy exports, the Persian Gulf cobbles together the eight countries of the region in a geopolitical panorama, in which they enjoy similarities in economic and strategic life, as well as security concerns. As well, the challenges of maritime political geography seem to be quite dependent on an established set of standards and agreements in order to remain on solid grounds. Currently, these challenges manifest themselves in four major categories, with substantial geopolitical consequences between the Iranians and the Arabs of the region, and the complexity of their relationships. These include: Religious Controversies, which concern the sectarian geopolitics, propagated under Jordan-Israeli concoction of “Shiite Crescent”, Territorial Contentions; with its major controversy over the naming of the Persian Gulf. This article examines the process of territorial conflicts, proceedings and eventually the settlements over the maritime areas of the Persian Gulf in the past five decades. The arrangement of the maritime political geography in the Persian Gulf is a fitting example of former disputes over the border and boundaries within the maritime regions of the world.