Influence Project from the Perspective of Iran’s Supreme Leader

With the advent of the Islamic Revolution, searching for religious identity became the main feature of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s system. Searching for regional identity was also strengthened, and as a result, Iran was identified certainly as an actor struggling against the western governments in the region. Based on this viewpoint, the conflict and opposition between the United States and Iran were progressively expanded in the post-Islamic era in both vertical and horizontal levels. In the light of America’s frustration against Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States has sought to persuade Iran over the political shift through foreign encouragements and pressures, and now it has put influence project on its agenda, so that the “influence” category has been raised as one of the most important concerns of the Supreme Leader after agreeing on 5+1 and nuclear negotiations. Regarding growing threats of the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the emphasis put by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, the present research makes an attempt to investigate the orientations, points of emphasis and analysis presented by the Supreme Leader in regard with influence project. This research is descriptive and a content analysis methodology based on the Supreme Leader’s declarations, measures and commands, especially after Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Barjam), has been applied. The research results show that at the present and especially after the nuclear deal, the country is politically placed in a special situation. Meanwhile, the explanation of leadership perspectives to raise awareness of the public and the young generation and consequently to neutralize the threats and plots of the enemy indicates that the United States has been actively seeking to influence the political and economic bases through its hostile actions, so that “enemy infiltration” has become one of the most significant key words used in recent statements of the leadership .