The place of motivation and ideology in defining terrorist crimes in Iranian law and comparing it with international documents

One of the obstacles to countering terrorism is disagreement about the concept and nature of this phenomenon. The constituent elements of terrorism have not been universally agreed upon, and this has led to different perceptions of terrorism and, as a result, a lack of coordination in the fight against it. The fundamental question that arises in this regard is what are the characteristics and elements emphasized in the crime of terrorism? What is the place of motive and ideology in the definition of terrorist crimes in Iranian law compared to international documents? The present article is a descriptive-analytical and examines the question using the library method. The results of the study indicate that systemic violence, motivation (ideology), organization and lack of legitimacy are the most important characteristics of the crime of terrorism. International documents, including the UN General Assembly definition of terrorism, mention motive as a feature of terrorism, but in Iranian criminal law, the basis is not an independent criminal title for terrorism and emphasizes the systematic violence of terrorism in creating public terror. In Iranian criminal law, terrorism is mainly dealt with as moharebeh. Terrorism is considered in international documents or as an international crime in itself.