The Islamic Republic of Iran as a structural link between the right of divine sovereignty and the right of self-determination

About five centuries have passed since the emergence of the theory of the «state», and there is still no unified political thought on this controversial concept. The state, as the vehicle to exercise power in political society, is an extremely evolving and renewable concept that has taken various forms, from the secular examples of the West to the legitimate forms in the minds of Muslim scholars, over the years and within epistemological frameworks. Moreover, without shadow of a doubt, Imam Khomeini›s theory of «Walayat Faqih» is a dominant discourse underpinning state formation in the era of the Islamic Republic. However, although the idea of an «Islamic Republic» in the form of religious authority theory has existed for decades, there are still ambiguities and challenges to it. This study, within the framework of an analysis of the theoretical bases of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian Constitution, seeks to answer the question of how this political system could consolidate the right of self-determination with Islamism. By considering the political structure of the republic and public opinion in terms of the formation and continuation of the political system, the author believes that the Iranian Constitution retains the right to determine its fate by preserving the essence of Islam. In other words, the political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a realization of the Muslim people›s willingness to put Islamic values, ideals, and rules at the forefront of government and can be interpreted as a religion-oriented democracy.