Pages: 1-8
Published: 30.09.2025
Abstract: Public diplomacy, as one of the soft dimensions of foreign policy, plays a significant role in shaping a country’s image and identity in the international arena. In this context, the role of women as carriers of the cultural, value-based, and identity-oriented messages of the Islamic Republic of Iran holds special importance. Drawing upon its cultural, social, and ideological capacities, the Islamic Republic of Iran has sought to promote the discourse of resistance as a foundational principle of its foreign policy at both regional and international levels. In this regard, Iranian women—particularly those active in academic, cultural, media, and social spheres—have played a dual role as cultural ambassadors and symbols of resilience and steadfastness. On one hand, they narrate the oppression, resistance, and quest for justice by the Iranian people and other oppressed nations; on the other, they reflect the image of an active, intellectual, and engaged woman within the framework of Islamic and revolutionary values. This article aims to examine the role of women in the public diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a focus on the discourse of resistance. The main research question is: How have Iranian women been able to effectively contribute to the articulation and promotion of the resistance discourse within the framework of public diplomacy? The research method employed is descriptive-analytical, and the study draws on library and documentary sources to analyze the capacities, performances, and outcomes of women's roles in this domain. The article demonstrates that public diplomacy in the Islamic Republic of Iran, unlike Western models which primarily focus on political figures or formal institutions, relies on grassroots and cultural structures. In this context, the presence of women as non-governmental and cultural agents has enabled the transmission of Iran's spiritual and identity-based messages to global audiences in a soft and effective manner. Iranian female elites—including academics, artists, journalists, social activists, and families of martyrs—have played a vital role in presenting an indigenous and independent narrative of Iran by participating in international conferences, cultural dialogues, media productions, and global engagements. One of the key components of the Islamic Republic’s resistance discourse is the confrontation with hegemony, defense of independence, support for oppressed nations, and opposition to racism and neo-colonialism. Iranian women, in articulating this discourse, have drawn not only from official state rhetoric but also from lived experiences and cultural perspectives to convey the message. Relying on the identity of the revolutionary Muslim woman, they have offered an alternative image of womanhood in the international order that contrasts sharply with the stereotypes of passive and Westernized women. Content analysis of speeches, interviews, and actions of women engaged in Iran’s public diplomacy reveals that concepts such as “female resistance,” “resilient motherhood,” “justice-oriented storytelling,” and “woman as a civilizational actor” have become prominent in the cultural diplomacy literature of the Islamic Republic. Iranian women have also served as mediators between regional and global cultures in narrating the events of Islamic resistance in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and other areas. Their central role is especially evident in media representation and documentary storytelling of resistance realities. At the institutional level, Muslim women’s organizations and international associations with Iranian female participation have created platforms for intercultural and international dialogue. These organizations have challenged dominant global feminist or liberal discourses by presenting a native alternative of the socially and politically active Muslim woman. The article concludes that Iranian women, by leveraging cultural and value-based capacities within the framework of the Islamic Republic, have expanded public diplomacy from official channels to social and intercultural levels and have conveyed the resistance discourse in a soft yet impactful manner to global audiences. This engagement has not only enhanced the soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran but has also contributed to redefining the global image of the Muslim woman.
Key words: Public diplomacy, Iranian women, resistance discourse, soft power, image of Muslim women, Islamic Republic of Iran.
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