Abstract

What explains the Islamic Republic of Iran’s considerable financial, military and diplomatic support for the nominally secular Bashar al-Asad government in the wake of the 2011 Syrian uprising? Iranian foreign policy is subject to realist considerations (security and power). However, realism does not adequately explain Iran’s Syria policy since 2011, given the price Iranian citizens are paying in casualties on the Syrian battlefield. This paper uses a constructivist framework to examine the role of identity in Iran’s foreign policy towards Syria. Moreover, it sketches Eid al-Ghadir as an identity marker for Twelver Shia Muslims. The aim of this paper is to show that Iranian martyrs are not only a consequence of Iran’s foreign policy towards Syria, but that martyrdom serves as a conduit for legitimacy.

摘要

在 2011 年叙利亚起义之后，伊朗伊斯兰共和国为何对名义上世俗的巴沙尔·阿萨德政府提供大量财政、军事和外交支持？伊朗的外交政策受现实主义的考虑（安全和权力）。然而，考虑到伊朗公民在叙利亚战场上的伤亡所付出的代价，现实主义并不能充分解释伊朗自 2011 年以来的叙利亚政策。本文使用建构主义框架来检验身份在伊朗对叙利亚外交政策中的作用。此外，它还将开斋节描绘为十二什叶派穆斯林的身份标记。本文的目的是表明伊朗殉道者不仅是伊朗对叙利亚外交政策的结果，而且殉道是合法性的渠道。