The Identity Policy of the Supreme Leader in Terms of the Imposed War Experience

As a dynamic and determinable phenomenon, identity always changes by social, cultural and civilizational encounters. One of the most influencing social incident in this regard is war, which is able to transform and diversify identity at various levels. The imposed war and its identity effects can be referred to as the promoter of the religious constituents and strengthening the national elements of Iranian identity, especially the youth. However, The Iranian human identity, especially regarding the youth, is in danger of disturbance and dispersion with regard to sources of identity in the current situation of the serious clashes between the Islamic Iranian civilization and that of the modern West. In response, the agents of the Iranian government, especially the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, are trying to introduce a proper model and identity for the young generation by relying on the identity sources of the Holy Defense. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to make use of the basic theory to identify the constituents of youth identity from the Supreme Leader’s point of view on the basis of the experience of the Holy Defense, and introduce his favorable identity model through analytical method by reviewing the lectures and written messages of His Holiness. The findings revealed that the constituents of spiritualism, task-orientation, martyrdom, fighting aliens, awareness of the situation, and devotion to Velayat, can be derived from the statements of the leader on the subject of war. The aforementioned components can be categorized as the establishers, requirements, and goals of identity of the Iranian youth. According to this, Iranian youth is supposed to be aware of the situation, his responsibilities, and the enemy with revolutionary spirit.