The role of Shiism in the foreign policy of the İslamic Republic of İran

Studies on the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran ignored the influence of constitutional institutions created within the framework of Shiism after the 1979 Revolution. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the extent to which constitutional institutions shaped on sectarian basis after the revolution were effective in determining Iranian foreign policy. This interdisciplinary approach focused on the emergence of Shiism, its political development, Iran's historical process and the constitutional institutions established with the revolution and its subsequent foreign policy understanding on the axis of Shiism. In this context, Turkish and English sources and periodicals such as newspapers and journals of the period were used. This study has shown that although Shiism is extremely effective in Iran's foreign policy, the country's foreign political approaches are not entirely Shi'ism-based, but sometimes include a real political approach.