Investigating the Threat of Daesh to Shiites in Iraq and Iran from Thierry Balzacq’s Perspective

The emergence of Daesh after the Iraq war in 2003 and the expansion of its activities in recent years is considered one of the most important threats in the Middle East and the world. Since its emergence, Daesh threats have spread from the Middle East to North Africa, Central Asia and Europe. The West, led by the US, has also made efforts to fight terrorism. But the verbal action of the religious and political leaders of Iraq and Iran in securitizing the threat of Daesh to the Shiites of these countries has not been analyzed in detail. This research seeks to answer the question, how is the approach of Shiite leaders in securitizing the threat of Daesh to the Shiites of Iraq and Iran? The hypothesis is that the leaders of Iran and Iraq have played an effective role in expressing the threat of Daesh to the Shiites. The speeches of political and religious Shia leaders of Iran and Iraq as a tool to securitize the threat of Daesh, have made the mental and intellectual atmosphere of the people; and regional and global actors more and more aware of this threat. In this research, the speeches of the Shiite leaders are investigated by the content analysis method, and Thierry Balzacq’s security theory is applied as a theoretical framework. The results show that Daesh is a serious security threat and has widened the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis.