İsmail Hakkı Elçi

Except for hard power based on material power elements, soft power; It defines the attraction that a state creates in the international arena with its historical and cultural values and the benefit it derives from this attraction. Iran also effectively uses the soft power it has created through its historical and cultural heritage, and tries to maximize the benefit it has gained in the international arena thanks to this power. Iran bases a significant part of its soft power on the velayet-i faqih system and the sanctity it has created for itself in the eyes of Shiites, and thanks to this sanctity it has created, it gains great influence over the countries where Shiites live. Iran, which frequently uses its Shiite-centered soft power in its foreign policy in the Middle East, maintains its continuity with some institutions it has created. Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) is one of the most important institutions established for this purpose. This institution, which currently has branches in Muslim countries, apart from the London branch; It promotes the historical and cultural values it has in these countries with the events, conferences and seminars it organizes, and tries to create an attraction for Iran or to break the bad perception created in the international arena, especially in Muslim countries. The aim of this article, which is about Shiism and ICRO as a soft power source; The aim is to examine the soft power that Iran obtained through Shiism and the Islamic Relations and Culture Institution that it established to ensure the continuity of this soft power. The main conclusion reached in the article; The belief in Shiism is an important source of soft power for Iran, and the continuity of this power is tried to be ensured by institutions such as ICRO. The historical-descriptive method was used in the article, within this framework; The subject has been tried to be discussed by giving both the historical and current situations of the sources on which Iran’s soft power is based.

Keywords: Soft Power, Iran, Shiism, ICRO, Velayet-i Faqih.