The Relationship between Superior and Inferior Politics: The role of Commander Soleimani in Illustrating the Islamic Republic of Iran as a Symbol of Resistance

Based on the classical division, the subjects of international relations are divided into superior politics and inferior politics. Military-security issues always fall into the category of superior politics, and experts and analysts examine the activities of military officials in this area, and this issue has nothing to do with the arena of inferior politics, which is specifically related to economic, welfare and cultural issues. In the meantime, Commander Soleimani was a rare example who was able to link the two spheres of superior and inferior politics. The current paper, by a descriptive-analytical method and focusing on the behavioral model of Commander Soleimani, deals with the main question: what role did Shahid Soleimani play in the transnational depiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran? The findings indicate that despite his military identity, Soleimani, due to his special attention to the manifestations of soft power and public diplomacy tools, was able to establish the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran through relationship building, image management, accreditation and national branding and providing a humanitarian and non-profit foreign policy model, and significantly enhanced the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the target governments and nations. The necessity of raising such an issue is that Sardar Soleimani's successful model in the arena of practice needs to be explained, refined and theorized in order to have a scientific aspect and be able to be presented in academic and elite settings.