Role of Sport Diplomacy in Development of Relations with Western Countries

In its glorious 40-year history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly challenged by the United States because of various political issues. In the meantime, Iran has been working with various tools to expand its soft power in the international community while strengthening its military capabilities. One of the important tools for enhancing this power is diplomacy through sport. Given the importance of the role of sport diplomacy in improving relations between Iran and Western countries, especially the United States, the present study tries to extract the components of Iranian diplomacy and explain the role of these factors to improve the relations between the two countries. Questionnaire items were identified using sport diplomacy, research literature and then dependent and independent variables were determined using structural-interpretive modeling. Spearman correlation test and structural equation modeling were used to investigate the relationships between variables. The results of correlation test showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between all variables of research. Variable religious currents had the greatest impact on cultural exchange. Cultural exchange had a positive and significant relationship with national peace and unity. Finally, a positive and significant relationship between peacebuilding and national unity and economic development has been confirmed.