Institutional Analysis of the Causes of Delay in the Ratification and Implementation of Trade Agreements Related to Iran:A Case Study of the Iran-Eura:

Molayari, Mohammadreza; Danaeefard, Hassan; Soltanifar, Ehsan; Athari, Mohammadtaha

doi:10.22034/ijts.2026.2081104.4230

Institutional Analysis of the Causes of Delay in the Ratification and Implementation of Trade Agreements Related to Iran:A Case Study of the Iran-Eura:

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Mohammadreza Molayari ¹

Hassan Danaeefard ²

Ehsan Soltanifar ³

Mohammadtaha Athari ⁴

¹ PhD Candidate in Public Policy, Faculty of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University

² Organizational Affiliation: Professor of Management Faculty of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Business School of Management, Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Tehran, Tehran / Iran

⁴ Master’s Student in Business Management, Imam Sadiq University (ISU), Tehran, Iran

10.22034/ijts.2026.2081104.4230

Abstract

Given the growing role of regional trade arrangements in organizing trade flows and deepening economic integration, one of the persistent challenges of Iran’s trade policy lies in the structural and protracted delays in the ratification and implementation of trade agreements. Focusing on this issue, the present study seeks to explain the institutional and bureaucratic mechanisms that continuously reproduce these delays throughout the processes of policymaking and commitment enforcement. Employing a qualitative approach based on document analysis and semi structured interviews, the data were analyzed through the theoretical lens of state capacity. The findings reveal that stagnation in advancing trade agreements results from the interplay of several structural logics. A self-reliance-oriented logic embedded in industrial and trade policy frames imports as a normative threat to national autonomy and steers decision making toward caution, restriction, and postponement. This logic is further reinforced by structural external pressures induced by sanctions, which divert trade policymaking from a programmatic path toward short term and reactive responses. Simultaneously, the erosion of technical and human capacity within trade institutions together with institutional fragmentation and the absence of a central coordinating authority exposes the negotiation-ratification-implementation cycle to sectoral frictions, bureaucratic inertia, and administrative resistance. Coupled with policy instability and frequent regulatory shifts, these conditions complicate compliance with international commitments and erode the confidence of foreign partners. The analysis demonstrates that the roots of these delays lie in deficiencies across the core pillars of state capacity, namely institutional integration, coordination, bureaucratic efficiency, and accountability. Accordingly, reforming Iran’s trade policy requires rebuilding bureaucratic capacity, strengthening specialized institutions, establishing a central coordinating authority, and stabilizing trade regulations.

Keywords

Trade Governance

Trade Policy

State Capacity

Eurasian Trade Agreement

Institutional Fragmentation

Subjects

منطقه‌گرایی و چندجانبه‌گرایی در اقتصاد و بازرگانی

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