The Functions of Friendship Associations Vis-à-vis the Cultural Diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran

With the new developments in international political interactions and the rise in the number of non-governmental actors in the political, economic, and cultural scenes of the world, countries can no more ignore the role of non-governmental organizations in the area of foreign affairs. Friendship associations have proved to be such organizations that have come to play a significant role in the area of cultural diplomacy and cultural relations. To this end, in the present paper attempts have been made to provide an answer to the question that: what role do the friendship societies play in the cultural diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran? The hypothesis of the paper is that friendship societies are one of the executive arms of modern public diplomacy in the present day, whose planned actions can serve and ensure the national interests of the nations at a lower cost. In order to support this hypothesis, resort has been made to the conceptual framework of cultural diplomacy, and the findings show that Iranian friendship associations can enhance the cultural power of the Islamic Republic of Iran and promote the benefit of the Iranian society by adhering to some of the requirements involved in international politics. Some of the functions of the Iranian friendship societies that are aimed at the expansion of cultural diplomacy and gaining a favorable political and cultural status for Iran’s foreign policy apparatus include: portraying a positive image of Iran, expanding friendly relations with other nations, contributing to the achievement of Iran’s international political goals, highlighting the Iranian cultural heritage, aligning the target communities with Iranian cultural ideas, conveying political and cultural messages of Iran, contributing to increased regional and global peace, building mutual trust, promoting political and cultural convergence in the Muslim world, managing public opinion, and etc.