The impact of ideology on national interests and national security in foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Emphasizing on Imam Khomeini's ideas (ra)

The Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, led by Imam Khomeini as a religious authority, helped establish a political order whose domestic and foreign policy was based on Islamic ideology. The aim of this study was to investigate Imam Khomeini’s discourse of foreign policy in relation to national interests and security, and Islamic ideology on three levels, namely, ideology, strategy, and diplomacy.
The main point of departure in Imam Khomeini’s ideological approach was his political and social reading of Islam, i.e. “Political Islam”. Other elements and principles of foreign policy were shaped based on this especial approach. On the level of strategy, Islamic rationality, foreign and domestic threats, and the unification of the Islamic republic were the main focus of attention of national security in relation to foreign policy. In this view, the protection of the Islamic Republic was of primary importance. The next issue was the security of the Islamic world and the Muslims. On the level of diplomacy, and following the principle of Islamic pragmatism, the main focus of foreign policy was considered the national interests of the Islamic Republic. The other components of this approach included public and nationalist diplomacy, non-alignment, Islamicist world, and support of liberation movements. Imam Khomeini’s approach to foreign policy, based on the priority of national security and interests of Iran, showed the significance of Islamic rationality in his foreign policy and the integration of ideals and facts. Unlike the common view, following the Islamic Revolution, Iran became a rational actor, that is, a policy based on Islamic rationality, in the arena of international politics.