The Security Dilemma of Influence: Shi'i Transnationalism and the Limits of Iranian Foreign Policy

Authors

  • Author

  • Mohammad R. Kalantari University of London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31430/ZKKI7012

Keywords:

Iranian Foreign Policy, Shiʿi Transnationalism, Nationalism, Security Dilemma of Influence

Abstract

The Islamic Republic's foreign policy, grounded in a revolutionary commitment to Shi ʿ i transnationalism, has long been viewed as a central mechanism for securing Iran's regional influence and post-revolutionary identity. Yet recent developments, most notably the June 2025 war with Israel, raise critical questions about the sustainability of this approach. While much scholarship has explored Iran's identity-driven foreign policy, less attention has been paid to the chronic contradictions it generates within Iran's ontological security framework, or how these contradictions both shape and constrain Iran's regional conduct. This study approaches the problem by theorising Iran's predicament as an ontological trap, a condition in which identity-affirming foreign policy routines produce chronic insecurity rather than stabilisation. It introduces the concept of a security dilemma of influence to explain how transnational networks (once strategic assets) now provoke nationalist contestation and narrative fatigue in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Author Biography

  • Mohammad R. Kalantari, University of London
    Associate Professor in International Relations of the Middle East and Director of Centre for Islamic & West Asian Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London.

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2Total citations
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Citing articles in ACRPS journals (2)

  1. (2026) السياسات الخارجية والأمنية الإيرانية وحرب الاثني عشر يومًا: واقعية أم مثالية أم سياسة داخلية؟. Siyasat Arabiya https://doi.org/10.31430/ZYTG6550
  2. (2026) تآكل الدولة العربية في السياقات العالمية والإقليمية. Siyasat Arabiya https://doi.org/10.31430/MXAJ6765

Sources: Crossref Cited-by, and the references (notes and reference lists) of the Center's own articles

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Published

2025-11-01

Article dates

Received: March 12, 2025 Revised: June 10, 2025 Accepted: October 20, 2025

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Issue

Vol. 13 No. 077 (2025): Issue 077

Section

Studies

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Copyright (c) 2025 Mohammad R. Kalantari (Author)

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