Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Professor, Department of International Relations, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
2
1. PhD Candidate, Department of Political Studies of the Islamic Revolution (Future Studies of the Islamic Revolution), University of the Islamic Revolution, Tehran, Iran
3
PhD Student in Political Studies of the Islamic Revolution (Futures Studies of the Islamic Revolution), Comprehensive University of the Islamic Revolution, Tehran, Iran
4
Master's Student in Regional Studies (Middle East) – University of Tehran
Abstract
In the Middle East's security environment, where competition over threat perception and role legitimacy is decisive, this study aims to explain the Islamic Republic of Iran's defense diplomacy through the lens of hybrid power—the coexistence of hard and soft instruments deployed to advance foreign policy objectives under conditions of tension and uncertainty (problem); the research employs a descriptive-analytical method based on a documentary approach, collecting data through purposive sampling of official documents, statements, agreements, and institutional reports, and analyzing them through thematic analysis across the stages of data familiarization, coding, theme extraction and refinement, and thematic mapping (method); the findings show that Iran's defense diplomacy simultaneously comprises two functional clusters: a hard cluster encompassing deterrent signaling and the institutionalization of security cooperation, and a soft-perceptual cluster encompassing the framing of collective security, legitimation of regional role, and management of threat perception. Five organizing themes were identified: signal-based deterrence, institutional security networking, symbolic capital of responsible role-playing, threat-perception adjustment through collective-security narratives, and trust management. The concurrence of these two clusters enables a combined effect on audiences' security calculations, though its scope is constrained by narrative competition, foreign-policy discursive coherence, and structural pressures such as sanctions (findings).
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