Seyyed Reza Sadr al-Hosseini – Expert on International Affairs

The strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the domain of deterrence are based on the full utilization of the will and capabilities of the people who brought the Islamic Revolution to victory under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (May Allah’s Mercy Be Upon Him) and through the application of religious teachings and Shia components. The most significant factor in the Islamic Republic’s deterrence is the people who, over the 47 years since the Revolution’s victory, have effectively supported the Revolution and its achievements and have striven to develop and deepen them. This matter—namely, leveraging the general capabilities of the people—extends across all strategic domains, including defense, society, economy, politics, and security. This means that the concept of deterrence in the Islamic Republic of Iran is by no means based solely on material tools and resources. Of course, this does not mean abstaining from utilizing material capabilities; rather, these capabilities are accompanied by spiritual backing.

Another important component of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s deterrence is indigenous defensive capability, which—through the full utilization of the country’s general capabilities across various sectors—has today manifested this deterrent power in a manner that even the world’s largest militaries acknowledge the Islamic Republic’s deterrent capacity. Concurrently, the country’s armed forces consider the people their most important support; indeed, it can be said that the people constitute the foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military equipment. In this connection, it must be noted that another of the most significant components of the Islamic Republic’s deterrence has been the public cohesion of the people. In reality, despite the country’s numerous ethnic and religious fault lines, no issue of discord or division among different ethnicities and denominations is observed. This clear image of deterrence, based on the component of public cohesion, has been well demonstrated in recent weeks through a public campaign named “Jan-Fada” (Life-Sacrifice).

Moreover, we must note that today the Islamic Republic of Iran has effectively demonstrated its deterrent power in both defensive and offensive domains during the 12-day and 40-day wars. By utilizing its indigenous capabilities—achieved by various specialists, including academic experts and activists in the country’s defense industries—the Islamic Republic has been able to present itself to the world as one of the strongest military powers, particularly in the missile and drone domains. In reality, the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses the strongest missile and air defense capabilities in the region and ranks among the world’s top four powers in this field. Of course, it must be noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s legitimate defense has today been proven to the world not only in the missile domain but also in cyber warfare and electronic warfare.

Furthermore, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s inspirational role in presenting “novel discourse” to the hearts of people worldwide—in various regions, with priority given to regional countries and diverse movements and groups—has today created numerous currents within the framework of the “Resistance Theory.” This constitutes another component of the Islamic Republic’s deterrence and strategic depth, defined within the framework of resistance movements. Another strategic dimension of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s deterrence is the country’s vast territory, its adjacency to 15 countries with which it shares land and maritime borders, its control over important and critical waterways within the ensemble of international waterways, and—in a word—Iran’s geopolitical position.

There is no doubt that countries’ geographical positions constitute part of their assets and can be utilized as factors of power. Therefore, Iran’s geographical, demographic, territorial capabilities and its geographical position themselves constitute a deterrent factor and have generated power for Iran. Control over the Strait of Hormuz also undoubtedly ranks among the components of Iran’s deterrent power.

Another point that must be added to the Islamic Republic’s deterrence is its justice-oriented discourse, which has today been able to create conditions among a significant segment of the world’s population such that even in adversarial countries such as the United States, the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran is raised as a model of our country’s discourse, and respectful slogans are chanted toward this flag, which symbolizes the Iranian nation.