In recent decades, the intensification of meaning-based competition and the expansion of narrative warfare have rendered identity construction a central arena of contestation within the international system. Within this context, the redefinition of national legitimacy in international forums has assumed growing significance for the Islamic Republic of Iran. The present study analyzes the manner in which the foreign policy discourse and governance framework of the administration of Martyr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi confronted negative image-construction strategies and perception-oriented warfare deployed by Western powers within the United Nations.
The principal objective of this research is to examine the mechanisms through which the Raisi administration actively countered processes of Iranophobia and Shiaphobia, as well as coordinated efforts aimed at undermining the identity and legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Accordingly, the central research question asks how, during the period from 2021 to 2023, the administration of Martyr Raisi employed specific discursive strategies to critique dominant Western narratives and to articulate an alternative model of Islamic governance in the international arena.
This study adopts a qualitative approach and employs thematicanalysis as its methodological framework. Inthis regard, the speeches delivered by Martyr Raisi at theUnited Nations General Assembly were systematically collected and analyzed using a three-level coding process. Based on this procedure, 90initial codes, 32organizing codes, and 8overarching themes were identified.
The findings indicate that the administration’s approach,while operating in continuity withthe macro-level policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and within a transforming international system, was pursued through clearlydefined discursive strategies.