Analysis of the First Speech of the Former Presidents of Iran and the United States on Iran Nuclear Deal from the Point of View Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar

The present study was conducted with the aim of critically analyzing the first discourse of Trump and Rouhani on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Program from the perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday, 1985).  To this end, the first speech of the two presidents on the subject of the JCPOA were selected and transcribed for analyses. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses including frequency and Mann-Whitney statistical tests were used for data analyses. Findings revealed the hidden ideologies of the two previous presidents of the United States and Iran, which were Iranophobia and Anti-Americanism respectively. Both were found to emphasize his positive self-presentation and other’s negative presentation. Both intended to put each other into blame for the chaos in the region. Rohani highlighted the national unity, the role of the Revolutionary Guard in the assistance of the oppressed people of the region, and Iran’s role in the provision of peace and calm in the region, whereas Trump referred to Iran’s Nuclear ambitions and the Revolutionary Guard’s role in the ignition of fire of unrest and chaos in the region. Moreover, results showed that Functional Grammar could be used alone to critically analyze political discourses, and also with the help of three experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunctions, this language model can analyze the speeches of both presidents.  Moreover, the ideologies behind each text could be identified and their purposes be disclosed based on the elements in each metafunction such as the use of pronouns, tenses, adverbs, processes and themes used in both texts.