After the Iranian revolution in 1979, the fledgling government of the Islamic Republic intended to lay the foundation of its limitations based on Islamic teachings and this has necessitated a path which can provide for a compromise between Islamic teachings on the one hand, and the limitations imposed on the government including international relations, which are structured in the framework of foreign policy, on the other. The path needs to be effective in eliminating the interference which a foreign policy that accepts limitations faces in its interactions with the international system. This means that a foreign policy that observes limitations has two options. One is being passive and dissolved in the hegemonic discourse and obtaining a proper share. The second choice is entering the otherness-making process and initiating ascription of meaning and application of it taken from epistemology and special ontology. Response to this important issue triggered the consideration of a factor that is unique in concept but diverse in examples. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, expediency and expediently-oriented action advanced to the extent that, in many cases, it practically achieved a special place in the hegemonic discourse including foreign policy. On this ground, decision-makers about foreign policy benefitted from the hegemonic discourse of their own thought and intended to bring a particular meaning to different issues and it is clear that different understanding (diagnosis) results in different action (prescription). This is noticeable in diverse understanding and acts which are based on expediency.This study is an attempt to delineate a comparative ground which defines the limitations of a framework that leads to discursive simulation of expediency (theoretical framework) in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy. This is the one path that gives rise to a single voice of collective wisdom, which is the result of common understanding and single prescription (justified consensus). With the right understanding and application of this framework in foreign policy, we can achieve a single discourse which reflects a single voice. This voice is capable of including elements such as wisdom and esteem which are the basis for a satisfaction that is accomplished upon common understanding and justified consensus.

Despite the prediction of various organizations of governance, based on Separation of Power System under the supreme leader’s supervision and determination of rights and obligations of each one in the 1979 Constitution, a longtime experience showed that some duties and decisions with full respect to the law could not be easily applicable. During this period, there were a lot of deadlocks and tensions that resolve and elimination of those, had been essential to stabilize the system.expediency discernment council after some makeshifts, established based on Imam Khomeini's decree on 6 February 1988 and legally stated upon therevision to the 1989 revision of constitution. This paper attempt to discuss about the infrastructures and conflict discourse in negotiations of Constitution’s revision council, toward the consolidation of this foundation.

Laws and ordinances legislated and commanded in the shari"ah are undoubtedly based on some advantages and disadvantages and are meant to help people achieve some lofty goals. If it is maintained that rules legislated in the shari"ah are based on the principles of expediency (advantages/disadvantages), can we then make laws based on the principle of expediency? In fact what is referred to as "esteslāh/maslahah morsalah" in the Sunni schools ofJurisprudence, especially in the Mālikite school, is an answer to the question at hand. This article discusses the process of rational reasoning in deducing juridical rules on the basis of the principle of expediency. Giving an introduction to the discussion and a definition of esteslāh, the writer then addresses issues such as the following: classifications of esteslāh, the scope of the issue, views and arguments for and against esteslāh. The writer then discusses changes that occur in rules according to the principle of expediency. Finally, the Shi"ite scholars" views are discussed. Throughout the article, the writer holds that the principle of expediency has to be enforced and implemented fiqh is to remain dynamic and satisfy the emerging and changing needs of the society.

Making it easy to meet the legal requirements of the society is an expediency that has a special role in satisfying the essential and general requirements of the contracts. Meanwhile, a number of lawyers, innovating a new theory called “the hidden expediency of the contracts”, believe that the hidden expediency plays an essential role in recognition of the requirements of the contract. Therefore, the present article first analyzes the role of expediency in the emergence of the requirements of contracts. Next, it reviews the viewpoint of the hidden expediency. The results show that expediency both is the reason for making elementary and secondary rules and has a central role in the actualization of the new contracts and the formation of essential and general requirements. Resorting to the essential expediency of the contract and its presumed continuity in the case of doubt is a legal solution to recognize the requirement of the contract which is considered as the main solution by the Imamiyyah jurists. The solution of the hidden expediency, if it is meant the same contracted essential requirement, is not a new matter; rather, it has been referred to earlier by the jurists. However, if it is a flowing and unstable matter that changes over time it cannot be a way for recognizing the essential requirement of the contract, because it changes the nature and the essence of the contract.

A recent, relatively common conception of the expediency in the Islamic Republic's governance experience is the secular one. According to this conception, the formation of the expediency requires going beyond the existing capacities of Shia jurisprudence and recognizing the common secular reason in the governance. Contrary to this approach and in response to it, this article argues this concept arises from a problem expressible in a jurisprudential framework: the separation between the domain of the government and the domain of interpersonal interactions, the refusal to infer relations regarding the government from legitimate contracts in the domain of individual interactions, and ultimately the priority of the first over the second in the cases of conflict. So, the regulation of property limits, environmental protection, and in general, the preservation and protection of the interests of Islam, cannot be inferred from the rights and powers related to interpersonal relations; Rather, the government in this sense is a condition for the realization of rights related to interpersonal relationships. Therefore, this conflict can be formulated in the form of conflict between private and public rights and the priority of the latter over the former, considering the purposes of Sharia; The distinction between public and private right is necessary for the concept of government, which neglecting it leads to the refusal to infer the government and its affairs from jurisprudential evidences and ultimately leads to a secular interpretation of government.

In the contemporary world, science and technology is developing by moments or seconds. This process involves quite new needs and requirements. To respond to these questions, it is inevitable that we seek new functions for legal rules and theories in the framework of Islamic sources and foundations. The philosophy of Islamic law attaches a capacity to expediency that can play a big role in this regard. The role of expediency in acquiring interests of this world and the next has given a big opportunity to the Islamic law towards recognizing priorities and even prescription of rules. The present article seeks to study briefly the current views concerning expediency in Islamic law.Explaining the domain of expediency in the Shiite and Sunni jurisprudence, the article points to its functional role in the modem world. The newly arisen issues have stimulated the need for Ijtihad on the one hand and there is the danger of being involved in secularization of jurisprudence as a serious limitation for expediency.

Instrumental and undue use of the concept of ‘expediency’ [maslihah] in material schools of thought and in Sunnite jurisprudence resulted in distancing from the goals of religion. As a result, specifying the criteria for making use of the concept of expediency in Shiite jurisprudence and distinguishing it from other interpretations of this concept is of great importance. Three kinds of criteria can be distinguished here. On the one hand, the concept of expediency, in the sense of “including stable material and spiritual benefits”, collocates with elements such as ‘hikmah’ [wisdom] and prudence. On the other hand, there are general criteria such as “not disagreeing with shari’a and its goals” and “preference of the most important over the important”. However, since the question that what are the criteria for preferring one over the other still remains valid, one must resort to more specific criteria such “having knowledge of time and place”, “having prudence and multi-aspect perspective”, “purposiveness”, “priority of society over individual”, “expertness and consultation”, and “necessity of consulting with the ruler”.

The concept of expediency is an important and common concept in the history of political thought. Viewing the political legacy remained from ancient Iran and drawing an analogy of which with the literary works remained from the Islamic era, one can perceive that “ expediency of the kingdom” is a central concept in the Iranian political thought. Also in the Islamic era and by translation of Iranian works, this concept was reflected in Siyasatnama which resulted in expediency-based politics. Given the history of Iranian political thought, the present article investigates the place and the role of this concept by giving an account of it. The results of the study indicate that in Iranian thought, expediency of the kingdom is not an abstract concept and can be applied to anything that has contributed to the development of the kingdom, spreading of knowledge, increasing the power and credibility and stability of the state.