Autopsy of Economic Soft War against the Islamic Republic of Iran

Soft war has been frequently raised in the speeches given by the Supreme Leader, Hazrateh Imam Khamenei. He has addressed the university professors and researchers as the commanders dealing with the enemy’s soft war. Economic soft war is one of the major aspects of the soft war scene, which is not often explored in soft war literature in spite of its importance and increasing focus on it. The present study aims at an autopsy of the enemies’ economic soft war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and exploration of its nature, dimensions, instruments and objectives. Using the descriptive-analytic method and benefitting from library resources, these issues are examined, both domestically and externally, with respect to the public sphere (public opinion), elites and government and governmental officials. The findings of the study indicate that economic soft war can be considered synonymous with the weakening and collapse of beliefs, values and behavioral patterns of a nation in the field of economy and includes two subfields: soft war with economic objectives and soft war with economic tools. It is obvious that Iran is involved in a full-fledged and influential economic soft war. Media-generation and image-making within the frameworks of cultural invasion with an economic dimension, sanctions and economic pressures along with the involvement of the internal agents (hoarders, brokers, smugglers) are some of the new instruments utilized by the enemies to realize this subject.