Under these conditions, and in order to maintain their legitimacy and survival, countries will have no other choice, but to enter a new development process through a globalized approach. Due to its specific geopolitical coordinates, Iran will not be certainly able to remain immune to these developments. At least part of the Iranian policymakers has already pointed to the necessity of initiating an extroversive development process. This conclusion is a result of their understanding of the aforesaid global developments, their knowledge of changes in international system following the termination of the world's bipolar system, and their awareness of the requirements that emanate from the emergence of an integrated globalized economic system.
The real nature of these goals clearly indicate that the national development drive in the country should not, and cannot, bear fruit through confrontation with the rest of the world. On the contrary, necessary resources and the stability, which is needed for the realization of developmental goals, can be only made available through constructive interaction with the rest of the world. Since achievement of the national sustainable development through a globalized approach based on constructive and effective interaction with the world has been announced as one of the main goals pursued by the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is necessary for the national development drive to become coordinated with the main development current in international system. A development-based approach to foreign policy can pave the way for the realization of this goal by improving the country's relations with the rest of the world and paving the way for Iran to avail itself of available international facilities.
A developmental foreign policy is the same focal point in which "development, foreign policy, and globalization" fuse in a profound and powerful relationship. In case the aforesaid interaction is established with the rest of the world – as a prelude to achieving development and taking care of people's welfare – then necessary grounds would be provided for more autonomy and promotion of the nation' self-respect as two basic goals of the Iranian foreign policy. In fact, under present circumstances, every government's potential and ability to move in the direction of relentless development, welfare, and progress has been taken as a solid basis against which the legitimacy and national security of a country is measured. On this basis, the Islamic Republic of Iran will have to undergo a period of transition to go past its current ideology-based and territory-based foreign policy principles toward an extroversive development process in order to be able to maintain its legitimacy and survive under the existing global conditions.
The requirement for the adoption of a developmental foreign policy approach by the Islamic Republic of Iran stems from pressures on the country from two interdependent and powerful phenomena; that is, globalization and development. Such pressures are simultaneously put on the country at two foreign (international) and domestic (national) levels. As a result, for the Islamic Republic, the adoption of a developmental approach to foreign policy is not an option anymore, but an inevitability, which is directly related to the very foundations of the legitimacy and national security of the Islamic Establishment and helps it to continue its political life.
A developmental foreign policy, as its name denotes, considers its main mission to be paving the way for the realization of the goals that a country seeks through the process of sustainable development. In other words, such a policy is, in fact, one of the main tools at the hands of a development-oriented government which it uses to achieve three main goals of "attracting international resources for development," "establishing and maintaining stability in the country's security environment," and "creating a positive image of the country as a collective opportunity." In general, a developmental foreign policy approach is based on the promotion of cooperation and coordination at international level. Of course, giving priority to cooperation in this policy as well as avoiding tension and confrontation with international system can, by no means, be taken as equivalent to unconditional submission to the status quo in international arena. On the contrary, this policy seeks to make gradual and reformist changes in international system in line with the country's national interests by taking good advantage of international laws and regulations and also by promoting consensus on this issue among allied countries.