No Compromise with the "Great Satan"? Anti-Westernism and the Ontological Limits of Reconciliation in US-Iran Relations

Öz

This article examines the role of anti-Westernism in the ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. While much of the literature on US–Iran relations emphasizes strategic rivalry, nuclear proliferation or regional power politics, this study argues that the persistence of conflict is rooted in the identity structure of the Iranian revolutionary state. Drawing on the concept of ontological security, originally developed by Anthony Giddens and later adapted to International Relations (IR) by Jennifer Mitzen, the article contends that anti-Westernism functions as a constitutive element of the regime’s political ontology. Since the 1979 Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini, opposition to Western hegemony—particularly the US (United States)—has served as a key narrative legitimizing the Islamic regime in Tehran. This ideological orientation has been institutionalized through political structures, elite socialization and state discourse, embedding resistance to the West within Iran’s political culture. As a result, diplomatic compromise with the US risks destabilizing the regime’s decades-long narratives and undermining its ideological legitimacy. The article argues that this ontological constraint has led to repeated failures of rapprochement with the US—including the fragility of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—and ultimately to the escalation culminating in the 2026 Iran War. By analyzing the interaction between regime identity and foreign policy behavior, the article contributes to broader debates on ideology, ontological security and the persistence of international conflict.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Anti-Westernism
• Ontological Security
• Iranian Foreign Policy
• US-Iran Relations
• Revolutionary Ideology

Etik Beyan

This article does not require ethical approval and informed consent.

"Büyük Şeytan" ile Uzlaşma Yok Mu? ABD-İran İlişkilerinde Batı-Karşıtlığı ve Uzlaşının Ontolojik Sınırları

Öz

Bu makale, Batı karşıtlığının İran İslam Cumhuriyeti’nin ideolojik temellerindeki rolünü incelemektedir. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri (ABD)–İran ilişkilerine dair literatürün önemli bir kısmı stratejik rekabet, nükleer program veya bölgesel güç siyasetine odaklanırken, bu çalışma iki taraf arasındaki çatışmanın İran’daki devrimci devletin kimlik yapısıyla bağlantılı olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. İlk olarak Anthony Giddens tarafından geliştirilen ve daha sonra Jennifer Mitzen tarafından Uluslararası İlişkiler (Uİ) disiplinine uyarlanan ontolojik güvenlik kavramından hareketle makale, Batı karşıtlığının rejimin siyasal ontolojisinin kurucu unsurlarından biri olarak işlev gördüğünü savunmaktadır. Ruhollah Humeyni liderliğinde gerçekleşen 1979 Devrimi’nden bu yana Batı hegemonyasına—özellikle de ABD’ye—karşı muhalefet, Tahran’daki İslam rejimini meşrulaştıran temel anlatılardan biri olmuştur. Bu ideolojik yönelim, siyasal kurumlar, yönetici elitler ve hükümet söylemleri aracılığıyla kurumsallaştırılmış; böylece Batı’ya karşı direniş, İran’ın siyasal kültürünün içine yerleşmiştir. Bu nedenle ABD ile diplomatik uzlaşma, rejimin onlarca yıllık kimlik anlatısını zayıflatma ve ideolojik meşruiyetini çökertme riski taşımaktadır. Makale, bu ontolojik kısıtın, Kapsamlı Ortak Eylem Planı’nın (JCPOA) kırılganlığı da dâhil olmak üzere birçok yakınlaşma girişiminin başarısızlığa uğramasına ve nihayetinde 2026 İran Savaşı ile sonuçlanan gerilimin tırmanmasına etkide bulunduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Rejim kimliği ile dış politika davranışı arasındaki etkileşimi analiz eden bu çalışma; ideoloji, ontolojik güvenlik ve uluslararası çatışmaların sürekliliğine ilişkin literatüre katkı sunmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Batı Karşıtlığı
• Ontolojik Güvenlik
• İran Dış Politikası
• ABD-İran İlişkileri
• Devrim İdeolojisi

Etik Beyan

Bu makalede etik beyana gerek yoktur.

Kaynakça

1. • Abrahamian, Ervand (2013), The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations, New York & London: The New Press.
2. • Adisonmez, Umut Can & Onursal, Recep (2020), "Governing Anxiety, Trauma and Crisis: The Political Discourse on Ontological (In)Security after the July 15 Coup Attempt in Turkey", Middle East Critique, 29(3), pp. 291–306.
3. • Adisonmez, Umut Can & Sari Ertem, Helin (2025), "'A Tale of Love and Hate': A Lacanian Lens on Turkish Foreign Policy towards the West", Critical Studies on Security, 13(3), pp. 295–307.
4. • Arghavani Pirsalami, Fariborz & Moradi, Arash & Alipour, Hosein (2024), "A Crisis of Ontological Security in Foreign Policy: Iran and International Sanctions in the Post–JCPOA Era", Third World Quarterly, 45(3), pp. 531–547.
5. • Asadzade, Peyman (2019), "Faith or Ideology? Religiosity, Political Islam, and Anti-Americanism in Iran", Journal of Global Security Studies, 4(4), pp. 545–559.
6. • Badawi, Tamer (2016), The Role of Identities and Interests in Iran’s Foreign Policy towards Syria and Iraq: A Constructivist Approach, Budapest: Central European University.
7. • Bahgat, Gawdat (2023), "US-Iran Relations: Challenges and Opportunities", The Muslim World, 113, pp. 108–119.
8. • Bakhshandeh, Ehsan (2014), "How Mainstream Iranian Newspapers Portray the West: The Influence of Anti-Westernism and Anti-Americanism", The Journal of International Communication, 20(2), pp. 184–199.

9. • Bakhshandeh, Ehsan (2016), Occidentalism in Iran, London: IB Tauris.
10. • Baxter, Kylie & Akbarzadeh, Shahram (2008), US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: The Roots of Anti-Americanism, London: Routledge.
11. • Behravesh, Maysam (2018), "State Revisionism and Ontological (In)security in International Politics: The Complicated Case of Iran and Its Nuclear Behavior", Journal of International Relations and Development, 21(4), pp. 836–857.
12. • Blight, James G. & Lang, Janet M. & Banai, Hussein & Bryne, Malcolm & Tirman, John (2012), Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979–1988, Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
13. • Bukhari, Syed Rizwan Haider (2026), "From Negotiation to Escalation: Coercive Diplomacy, Military Force, and the 2026 Iran–US Nuclear Conflict", Journal of Development and Social Sciences, 7(1), pp. 304–315.
14. • Cingöz, Murat & Özkan, Fulya & Alkan, Yavuz Selim & İzol, Ramazan (2024), "Iran’s Axis of Resistance through the Lens of Ontological Security", Third World Quarterly, 45(13), pp. 1963–1980.
15. • Clawson, Patrick (2004), "The Paradox of Anti-Americanism in Iran", Middle East Review of International Affairs, 8(1), pp. 16–24.
16. • Dehghani Firoozabadi, Seyed Jalal (2011), "Ontological Security and the Foreign Policy Analysis of the Islamic Republic of Iran", Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, 2(2), pp. 31–60.
17. • Dolatabadi, Ali Bagheri (2022), "Ontological Security and Iran’s Missile Program", All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace, 11(2), pp. 233–255.
18. • Doyle, Michael W. (1986), "Liberalism and World Politics”, The American Political Science Review, 80(4), pp. 1151-1169.
19. • Elik, Süleyman (2018), "The United States’ Strategic Relationship with Iran and Turkey", in US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: From American Missionaries to the Islamic State, London: Routledge, pp. 118–137.
20. • Forozan, Hesam (2016), The Military in Post-Revolutionary Iran: The Evolution and Roles of the Revolutionary Guards, London: Routledge.
21. • Giddens, Anthony (1991), Modernity and Self-Identity, Cambridge: Polity.
22. • Göksel, Oğuzhan (2019), "Defying the System: The Origins of Anti-Westernism in the Non-Western World and the Case of Iran", Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 6(2), pp. 13–42.
23. • Göksel, Oğuzhan (2025), "The Shia Crescent and Sectarianism: Iran’s Grand Strategy in the Middle East and Its Regional Opponents", in Contemporary Issues in the Middle East, Sakarya: Sakarya University Press, pp. 1–20.
24. • Hafezi, Parisa & Katharine Jackson (2026), "Iran Threatens New Offensive While US Rules Out Extending Ceasefire Deal", Reuters, 17.08.2026, Date of Accession: 20.08.2026 from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-threatens-go-offensive-strait-hormuz-if-diplomacy-with-us-fails-2026-08-17/.
25. • Hajinaseri, Saeed & Anvarianasl, Hamed (2021), "Anti-Americanism in Ayatollah Khamenei’s Thought", Islamic Revolution Research, 10(3), pp. 147–169.
26. • International Atomic Energy Agency (2018), "Verification and Monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in Light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)", GOV/2018/24, 24 May.
27. • International Atomic Energy Agency (2025), "Verification and Monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in Light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)", GOV/2025/24, 31 May.
28. • Khan, Akbar & Zhaoying, Han (2020), "Iran-Hezbollah Alliance Reconsidered: What Contributes to the Survival of State-Proxy Alliance?", Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, 7(1), pp. 101–123.
29. • Kinnvall, Catarina (2004), "Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security", Political Psychology, 25(5), pp. 741–767.
30. • Kinnvall, Catarina & Mitzen, Jennifer (2020), "Anxiety, Fear, and Ontological Security in World Politics: Thinking with and beyond Giddens", International Theory, 12(2), pp. 240–256.
31. • Loft, Philip (2026), "US–Iran Ceasefire and Nuclear Talks in 2026", House of Commons Library Research Briefing CBP-10637, 02.07.2026.
32. • Malici, Akan & Walker, Stephen G. (2017), Role Theory and Role Conflict in U.S.-Iran Relations: Enemies of Our Own Making, London: Routledge.
33. • Mehran, Golnar (2003), "Khatami, Political Reform and Education in Iran", Comparative Education, 39(3), pp. 311–329.
34. • Mitzen, Jennifer (2006), "Ontological Security in World Politics: State Identity and the Security Dilemma", European Journal of International Relations, 12(3), pp. 341–370.
35. • Mitzen, Jennifer (2018), "Anxious Community: EU as (in)Security Community", European Security, 27(3), pp. 393–413.
36. • Moazami, Behrooz (2009), "The Islamization of the Social Movements and the Revolution, 1963–1979", Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 29(1), pp. 47–62.
37. • Mousavian, Seyed Hossein & Toossi, Sina (2017), "Assessing U.S.–Iran Nuclear Engagement", The Washington Quarterly, 40(3), pp. 65–95.
38. • Nasr, Vali (2025), Iran’s Grand Strategy A Political History, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
39. • Nia, Mahdi Mohammad (2010), "Understanding Iran’s Foreign Policy: An Application of Holistic Constructivism", Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, 9(1), pp. 148–180.
40. • Ostovar, Afshon (2016), Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
41. • Özcan, Nihat Ali & Özdamar, Özgür (2009), ‘Iran’s Nuclear Program and the Future of U.S.-Iranian Relations’, Middle East Policy, 16(1), pp. 121–133.
42. • Rastkar, Alireza & Shokoohi, Saied (2025), "The Impact of Iranian Political Elites’ Perception and Misperception on Iran-U.S. Relations (2012-2020)", Journal of Iran and Regional Studies, 8(1), pp. 53–76.
43. • Rees, Morgan Thomas (2023), "Ontological (In)Security and the Iran Nuclear Deal—Explaining Instability in US Foreign Policy Interests", Foreign Policy Analysis, 19(3), pp. 1-21.
44. • Reuters (2026), "The 14-Point US–Iran Pact White House Sent to Congress", 17.06.2026, Date of Accession: 01.07.2026 from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/14-point-draft-us-iran-deal-2026-06-17/.
45. • Rezaie Yazdi, Mohammad (2016), Khomeinism, the Islamic Revolution and Anti-Americanism, Birmingham: University of Birmingham.
46. • Rumelili, Bahar (2020), "Integrating Anxiety into International Relations Theory: Hobbes, Existentialism, and Ontological Security", International Theory, 12(2), pp. 257–272.
47. • Shadunts, Alen (2023), "From Knowledge to Wisdom: Uncertainty and Ontological (In)Security in Iran’s Foreign Policy", Global Studies Quarterly, 3(3), pp. 1-12.
48. • Sinkaya, Bayram (2016), Revolutionary Guards in Iranian Politics: Elites and Shifting Relations, London: Routledge.
49. • Steele, Brent J. (2008), Ontological Security in International Relations: Self-Identity and the IR State, London: Routledge.
50. • Takeyh, Ray (2002), "Re-Imagining US-Iranian Relations", Survival, 44(3), pp. 23–36.
51. • Wendt, Alexander (1999), Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
52. • White House (2018), "Remarks by President Trump on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action", 08.05.2018, Date of Accession: 01.08.2026 from https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-joint-comprehensive-plan-action/.