Exploratory Factor Analysis and Prioritization of Zionist Regime's Political Threats Affecting the National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), as a state in the Middle East, has always been exposed to political and security threats posed by the Zionist regime. At present, the Zionist regime is deemed one of the main challenges in the foreign policy and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the regional and international levels. In this article, the dimensions and components of the Zionist regime's political threats, which could affect the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, were identified using the opinions of experts and the statistical community in 63 factors and in both internal and external dimensions; following, they were prioritized using Friedman rankings and finally they were classified and set to be mitigated using exploratory factor analysis. The results of the research show that the main political threats posed by the Zionist regime against the IRI’s national security at home is instability which could be interpreted in 6 emerging factors and in the component of delegitimization in 3 emerging factors; for abroad, the components of discrediting and isolation could be interpreted in 3 and 5 emerging factors, respectively. The overall results indicate that the most significant internal threats are to show the high rate of malfeasance and to pave way for its growth and material-spiritual support for opposite groups, respectively. In the sphere of foreign threats, the most significant threats are to support the meetings and conferences held by opposite groups in the occupied territories and unreliable expression of the IRI’s nuclear and missile activities.