Iran-Iraq Border Security Challenges (Case Study: Sardasht Border City)

Security is considered a key component in the stability and progress of any country, and its gap in the border areas can have unfortunate consequences among the border residents and the residents of the center. The present research seeks to understand the security challenges of the Iran-Iraq border with a case study of the border town of Sardasht.

In terms of its objectives, the present study is of an applied research type and qualitative research. The method used is thematic analysis and the data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with 15 security experts. Data analysis was obtained with thematic analysis technique and coded by extracting dimensions, components, and indicators as well as ranking their importance.

The findings of the research show that from the perspective of the community participating in the research, the security challenges in the area under study consist of five dimensions and ten components, as described by the intensification of the center-periphery gap, the activity of hostile groups, smuggling, extra-regional forces and pan-Kurdism; and two indicators for each component and twenty indices in total.

The results show that dimensions such as the presence and movement of hostile groups in the border strip, the gap between the center and the periphery, the inequality in the enjoyment of social welfare by the border dwellers and the phenomenon of smuggling in the border strip of this city, respectively, have the greatest impact on the occurrence of security tensions between Iran and Iraq in the border city of Sardasht. Of course, it should be said that all these dimensions along with the obtained components and indicators are in mutual relationship with each other and each may have an increasing effect on the other or be affected by it.