Explanation of Imam Khomeinis defense strategies during the holy defense

War and armed conflict is the most serious threat to the national security of countries. In this light, the period of holy defense is a valuable treasure of experiences, policies, plans and strategies that might enlighten the Islamic system’s future path in the face of future threats. This study has analyzed the defense strategies of Imam Khomeini during the holy defense in a descriptive-analytical method. The text of Imam Khomeini’s Sahifa about the holy defense has been studied and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using the content analysis methodology in analogical and inductive approaches. Seven components of defense, including philosophy and nature of holy defense, culture and organizational behavior of the armed forces, psychological operations, Islamic ethics in war, the military force equal to the Islamic Revolution, the role of world powers in the war and the role and function of popular mobilization forces have been set as the criterion to identify and explain Imam Khomeini''''''''s defense concepts and strategies. 54 concepts of defense have been extracted from the text of the Imam''''''''s Sahifa according to the research findings and based on the above mentioned seven components. Then, the ranking of concepts and their process of change during the six periods of holy defense has been studied and analyzed separately. Finally, seventeen defense strategies considered by Imam Khomeini (RA) have been determined using the qualitative content analysis method and the process of "categorization" based on the 54 concepts and the seven components of defense.