An Analysis of Iran's Geopolitical Opportunities and Challenges on Religious Tourism (Case Study: Mashhad City)

Religious tourism is a symbol of the religious identity of communities that promotes cultural and religious interactions between host communities and tourists at national, regional, and global levels. The geopolitical position of Shiite regions is one of the important determinants of the security value of these areas at national and transnational levels. These areas have long been the focus of crises and the source of many challenges and opportunities. Khorasan and the city of Mashhad, where the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) is located, are among the most important Shiite areas in the world. In addition to its geopolitical importance, this region is also important in terms of tourism and can play a significant role in the development of tourism and the creation of new opportunities. Khorasan, during the Shiite ups and downs of history, has been endowed with many challenges and opportunities throughout Iran. But what is of paramount importance today is the position of Khorasan, and especially Mashhad, in the development of religious tourism as a Shiite geopolitical region in the Middle East. Given Iran's location at the junction of the three ancient continents and the central position of Mashhad in the Shiite geopolitics and the center-around model, it is possible to revive the historic-ancient silk and spice roads that Europe via Iran to Central Asia, pseudo- Connecting the continent and China, it has promoted tourism, especially religious tourism in Iran. The research method of this paper is descriptive-analytical whose data are collected using library resources.