Defensive-security implications of the Islamic Republic of Iran in confronting the normalization of ties between the Zionist regime and the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Republic of Azerbaijan, with its distinctive geopolitical and geo-economic features, has a special role and status in the political scene of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In recent years, the presence of the Zionist regime in the South Caucasus region as a peripheral region of the Islamic Republic of Iran and strategic collaboration with the regional countries, especially with the Republic of Azerbaijan, and also continuing and enhancing these collaborations and adopting strategic plans, have posed serious challenges for the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran. If defensive-security implications are not considered and anticipated to counteract the continuation of presence and further normalization of ties between the Zionist regime and the Republic of Azerbaijan, this could create serious problems in various political, military, security, economic, cultural and social domains for national security. The Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, in this research, an attempt has been made to “elucidate the defensive-security implications of the Islamic Republic of Iran in confronting actions stemming from the normalization of ties between the Zionist regime and the Republic of Azerbaijan”. The research method is a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) content analysis method and Imam Khomeini’s Sahifeh (May God bless his soul) text during Sacred Defense has been studied with two approaches: analogy and induction. In this framework, 9 concepts related to “psychological warfare in Sacred Defense” component were extracted and their frequency status as well as their change trend were investigated. In addition, based on “coding and categorization” process, most important psychological warfare strategies were calculated. The findings indicate that Imam Khomeini’s (May God bless his soul) viewpoint on psychological warfare in Sacred Defense is based on three main principles: “the principle of unity and solidarity among Muslims; resistance and steadfastness against oppression and aggression; awareness-raising; vigilance against deception; sedition.”