Designing the Competency model of the Ambassadors of Islamic Republic of Iran

In Classic Diplomacy, the role of ambassador was defending national interests in foreign countries and messaging between the authorities of two countries. By facilitation of communication, job diversification of ambassadors and enhanced diversity of embassies staff, gradually the role of ambassador changed basically. Considering this role change and the characteristics of Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), this research was performed to design the competency model of the ambassadors of IRI. The methodology of this research is the qualitative method of thematic analysis. The data was collected, up to saturation, via 3 sources of "interviewing former ambassadors and diplomats of IRI in various countries", "the texts of the interviews or articles written by former ambassadors of different countries about the job of an ambassador or a good ambassador", and "the texts of the speeches of the supreme leader of IRI". After multiple stages of coding, using MAXQDA software, 6 major themes emerged and based on it, the Competency model of the Ambassadors of IRI was formed including 6 layers of “Islamic and national values”, “ethical, personality and general traits”, “specialized and general knowledge”, “experience”, “mental and communicative abilities” and “managerial, intellectual and communicative skills”.