Iran's Public Diplomacy Strategy in Africa

Using effective tools and methods to create a positive image of a country is an important issue in public diplomacy. Given that Africa is one of the strategic areas of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran has failed to make good use of this capacity and to succeed in the field of public diplomacy. This is important because the presence of competing countries with Iran in Africa has been instrumental in creating challenges for Iran on the continent and has given a security perspective to Iran's actions in Africa and Iran cannot succeed. The field of influencing African public opinion and promoting its goals and interests is doing better. Now the question arises: what is the effective strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the success of public diplomacy in Africa? In the present study, first, a descriptive-analytical approach, using library documents and resources, deals with the general diplomacy of Iranian diplomacy in Africa and the security outlook formed using the Copenhagen School. Then, using in-depth interviews (one of a series of surveys) with 20 experts in the field of Africa and public diplomacy, as well as using the Swat Matrix Analysis method, the data were analyzed. The results, therefore, imply that a reactive or rethinking strategy could weaken Iran's public diplomacy on the continent by weakening the security outlook on Iran's activities in Africa