Open Access

Edward Knudsen

• Iran faces a challenging situation domestically and geopolitically, with economic stagnation, youthIran faces a challenging situation domestically and geopolitically, with economic stagnation, youth unrest, sanctions, and regional conflicts all taxing the regime’s stability. Within this context, it uses ECP to gain regional influence, which is mostly concentrated in the Middle East, especially neighboring Iraq and Syria. At the same time, it seeks to project its understanding of Shia religion, politics, and culture farther afield as well to gain more economic and political partners. To date, Iran has aimed at wielding some influence in Europe as well as with countries more politically at odds with the United States. However, with tensions between the US, and China and Russia rising, Iran may feel encouraged to embrace an “anti-Western” stance more firmly and seek alliances accordingly (Merat, 2022). Regardless of how geopolitics evolves, Iran’s history of navigating great power rivalry and wielding cultural influence to shape its region and advance its religion is unlikely to change in the near future.…