Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 12 - Año: 2018 - Págs.: 134657 a 13795 390 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 12 / 2018 on cooperation where all the parties involved would achieve optimal gains, finding common ground among the players, and facilitating a return to the negotiating table. The theory of ‘nested games’ has served as an instrument with which to analyse possible subgames that depend on contextual factors involved in nuclear negotiation. The fulfilment of the JCPOA milestones served as a starting point for the lifting of sanctions, especially significant in the field of energy. With its important gas reserves and energy infrastructure, Iran is a key geostrategic player in the flow of energy and gas in particular, as the leading producer in the Middle East and fourteenth in the world ranking. As we have seen, this in turn has afforded it decisive power within the Eurasian sphere of energy and of geopolitics. Likewise, pipelines act as strategic security elements, exerting pressure in their areas of influence. As dependence can make them vulnerable, countries need measures that combine energy and economic resources, which in turn strengthen the overall struc-ture. Guaranteeing energy security implies facing these vectors with measures defined by a symbiosis between security of supply and reduced dependence. This security is a driving force of energy policy and national security. When a state belongs to the nuclear club this is understood as a declaration of its power to the world at large and accordingly deserves respect. Most analysts suggest that the Iranian regime is motivated by security concerns and simply wants a defensi-ve deterrent force. Others suggest that Teheran could be pursuing a nuclear weapons capacity for offensive purposes. These political, energy and security concerns favour cooperation and offer an expla-nation for the achievements of the JCPOA. However, there is another factor to bear in mind. Whereas for most countries their main geographical imperative is to maintain internal cohesion, for Iran it is to keep its bor-ders secure and, in particular, the areas outlined by the Shatt al-Arab river, the west coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the oil fields of the southwest, since it hopes to exploit its energy potential to the full to guarantee economic take-off. In this context, the concept of energy security is vitally important, as an important driver of energy and security policies, otherwise known as “resource nationalism”. Teheran looks upon its nuclear programme as a means to increase its prestige and influence in the region and the world, hypothetically underpinned by the idea of the defence of state, its natural resources and the values of the Islamic Revolution. For Ali Khamenei, the nuclear programme embodies the central principles of the Islamic Republic, reflecting a clear link between scientific progress, self-sufficiency and political independence; hence his ideal vision of an Iran advanced enough to be self-sufficient, economic and politically independent. The erstwhile leader of the Re-volution firmly believes that the US is opposed to Iran’s nuclear ambitions because of the potential economic power that can derive from its nuclear programme. President Trump’s refusal to certify the JCPOA has generated new prospective sce-narios where crisis situations have been gathering momentum, whether between the US and the EU, involving a power struggle for the survival of the agreement, or bet-ween Iran and the US over Iran’s defence of its nuclear programme.
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