Investigating the role of identity in the defense policy of the I.R. Iran, with an emphasis on all-round deterrence and conventionalism

Defense policy is the result of both quantitative and qualitative internal and external factors. In addition to foreign military threats and perceptible domestic variables; such as military and political structure, budget, weapons, equipment and population, imperceptible variables; including opinions, beliefs, values, norms, customs and historical experiences contribute to its formation.
Reflecting on defensive behaviors, paying attention to upper documents and contemplating the Thought of Imam Khomeini and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution indicate that:all-round deterrence is the Focal concept of defense policy of the I.R. Iran and conventionalism determines the nature of its defense instruments.
The main objective of this paper is to examine the role of identity in the formation of all-round deterrence and conventionalism in the defense policy of the I. R. Iran. This paper is based on a qualitative approach and carried out through the library method as well as semi-structured interview. Data analysis has been done by means of “thematic analysis” of key propositions and establishing a meaningful correlation between them.
The results of the research findings show that: Islamism dominates the I. R. Iran's semantic system plays pivotal role in the formation of all-round deterrence and conventionalism; this role-playing through the perception of the national role of the “Role Model State” and in pursuit of fulfilling the country's defense-security benefits and the cultural approach based on constructivist theory is a suitable theoretical device for analyzing this area of Iran's defense policy.