一九九○∼一九九一年之海灣戰爭是冷戰瓦解後第一個區域衝突，一般論者主要將焦點置於伊拉克、美國等國家身上。事實上，伊朗作為海灣區域之兩大強國之一，一旦參戰足堪使海灣戰局產生劇烈變化。惟有關伊朗在海灣戰爭期間之政策思考及轉折，鮮為論者所探討。本文旨在於分析與評估伊朗之中立政策的決策過程、政策成效及其所產生之影響，藉此或可填補海灣戰爭之相關研究的空缺，並可適掌握伊朗之區域政策，及海灣區域政治運作之特質。本文係以現實主義理論之視角做論述，而研究結果顯示：伊朗之中立政策是一種以國家利益為基本思考的權力平衡政策。

　　　　　The Gulf War (1990-91) was the first regional conflict after the gold War. As one of the two big powers in the Gulf region, Iran could have changed the was situation drastically if it and entered the war. However, little research has look ed into Iran's attitudes toward the war. The main aim of this article is to evaluate the process, performance and effect of Iran's policy of neutrality, thereby addressing this research vacuum and researching the essence of Gulf regional politics. This paper holds a realist view and concludes that Iran's neutral policy was a balance-of-power policy based on its national interests.