Introduction
Since the Iranian Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah and established the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, Iran has utilized its foreign policy as a means of exporting its religious and cultural ideologies to the region. The designation of Twelver Shiism as the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran following its establishment solidified Shia Islam as a core aspect of Iran’s social identity. In addition, Iran aims, through its nationalism derived from its social and Islamic identity, to end injustice and support the oppressed groups not only in Iran but throughout the world. To meet these goals, Iran employs its foreign policy as an instrument to export its religious and social ideologies along with its revolutionary ideals to the region.
Accordingly, when investigating Iranian Shiitization activities in Syria, it is important to understand the Iranian identity and ideologies that direct its foreign policies toward Syria and the region. Constructivism theory’s emphasis on non-material social norms in shaping international relations and states’ behavior and its focus on analyzing the role of identity, culture, and shared social understanding in guiding foreign relations and shaping states’ interests, all these factors make constructivism theory a suitable theory for this study. Constructivism theory will be applied in the study to analyze Iranian Shiitization activities in Syria because of the significant influence of cultural, ideological, and identity factors in directing Iran’s foreign policy toward the region in general and Syria specifically.
