Iran’s Strategic Responses to Pressure from the United States and Israel in Contemporary Conflict

Abstract

This article examines Iran’s strategic responses to pressure from the United States and Israel in the context of contemporary conflict through a multidimensional analytical approach. It integrates defensive realism, asymmetric warfare theory, forward defense doctrine, strategic culture, and national dignity to explain the logic behind Iran’s security behavior. Using a qualitative method, this study relies on document analysis of academic literature, policy reports, and recent international publications. The findings show that Iran’s strategic behavior should not be understood merely as military aggression, but rather as a survival strategy within an anarchic international system shaped by persistent external threats. Iran has developed an asymmetric approach through missiles, drones, and proxy networks to confront adversaries with superior conventional capabilities. The forward defense doctrine also enables Iran to manage threats beyond its core territory and build strategic depth. In addition, strategic culture and revolutionary identity provide legitimacy and continuity to this defensive orientation. National dignity plays an important role in sustaining these policies despite severe economic, political, and diplomatic pressures. The article argues that Iran’s strategic response emerges from the interaction between threat structures, strategic adaptation, and identity construction. Therefore, this study contributes to Middle Eastern security studies by bridging material and ideational approaches in explaining Iran’s contemporary strategic behavior.