The Power Of The Spirit And The Will To Resist

This article seeks to answer why Iran is building Shiite Crescent.The term Shiite Crescent,proposed by King Abdullah II of Jordan,is a Sunni Arab exaggeration of Iran’s influence in the Middle East,but there is evidence that Iran is indeed expanding its influence in the Middle East on a sectarian basis,with significant influence in countries such as Iraq,Syria,Lebanon and Yemen.This article argues that Iran’s perception of regional security is the fundamental reason for the emergence of the Shiite Crescent.Iran believes that only by completely driving out the forces of the United States and Israel in the Islamic world can it truly ensure its own security,which requires the regimes in the Middle East to be aligned with Iran as closely as possible,reflecting the potential motivation of Iran to interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring countries.The Shiite Crescent,which fits well with Iranian anti-Americanism,can be used as a propaganda tool to rally resistance in the Islamic world.After introducing the main reasons,three aspects are analyzed in detail.First,Iran hopes to become an important country in the Middle East due to its glorious historical experience,but the experience of being conquered repeatedly makes Iran worry about its own security.The development of history also leads to the long-term opposition between Iran and the Western world and the mainstream Sunni Islam,which makes Iran easy to divide its friends and enemies by sectarian views.Shiite Crescent would be both an expression of regional importance and a buffer against threats to Iran itself.Second,the Shia Islam has the experience of oppression and the spirit of resistance.People value the role of imams and Ulamas in Shia Islam.Shia Islam developed rapidly after it became the state religion of Iran,and the Ulamas gradually possessed the power to fight against the secular monarchy,which eventually led to the success of Khomeini’s revolution.Khomeini and Khamenei developed their theories,advocated the unity of the Islamic world,expelled the Western and Israeli forces,and provided theoretical support for the Shiite Crescent.Third,the political changes in the Middle East after Islamic Revolution have made Iran feel threatened.Many Shiite countries around Iran suffered civil unrest and invasion,which made Iran unable to stand by.However,the chaos in the Middle East also caused a large power vacuum,which gave Iran opportunities to penetrate.Iran chose to use the identity consistency,support the forces close to itself,cooperate with Shiites in other Middle Eastern countries,and unite Shiite groups in various countries by using religious slogans.And directed Shiite militias to fight their enemies and defend their interests.The Shiite Crescent can be evaluated from three perspectives.First of all,there is a lot of criticism against Iran within Shia Islam.Some Shiite countries,such as Azerbaijan,are not close to Iran.Some senior Shiite Ulamas do not agree with Khomeini and Khamenei’s ideas.Second,Iran’s behavior has led to the antagonism of Saudi Arabia and other countries,which has intensified sectarian conflicts in the region and further complicated the security situation in the Middle East.Finally,there are conflicts in Iran due to its foreign policy.The bureaucracy represented by the president and the conservative religious forces represented by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have different diplomatic strategies.There are also frequent protests in Iran due to issues such as economy and people’s livelihood,so the cohesion of religion in Iran is questionable.This article mainly uses methods of case studies and content analysis.