Interdisciplinary Studies in Media and Culture

How ISIS's media war affects the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Document Type : .

Authors

Komail Raafati Hamzeh Kalai 1
Ali Mahmoudi 2
Ali Salehi Farsani 3

1 PhD student in political science, Islamic Azad University, Semnan Branch, Semnan, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30465/ismc.2025.51341.2930
Abstract
Abstract
this study investigates the impact of ISIS's media warfare on the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The research analyzes the official media content of ISIS, particularly its magazines Dabiq and Al-Naba, to examine how Iran is framed as a threatening and illegitimate state. The study aims to identify threatening themes and discursive strategies used by ISIS to incite violence, undermine legitimacy, and promote instability in Iran. Using a qualitative thematic analysis, the study analyzes purposefully selected content—including videos, statements, publications, and posters—produced between 2014 and 2022 that directly target Iran. Findings show that ISIS consistently portrays Iran as the “main enemy of Sunnis” and a “heretical regime,” employing terms like Rafidha, Taghut, and apostasy to delegitimize Iran’s religious and political identity. These narratives, delivered via social media and highly professional visual content, especially through Dabiq and Al-Naba, aim to inflame sectarian tensions, challenge Iran’s legitimacy, and incite violent actions against Iranian interests. This form of media warfare poses threats to Iran’s social cohesion, political legitimacy, and national stability.
Keywords: Media Warfare, ISIS, National Security, Iran, Media Threats, Dabiq

Introduction
Media warfare has emerged as a powerful strategy in the modern era, especially as an asymmetric tool employed by terrorist organizations to exert psychological, ideological, and political pressure on sovereign states. Unlike conventional warfare, media warfare leverages information technologies and communication platforms to manipulate public perception and propagate fear. ISIS (Daesh), as one of the most media-savvy terrorist groups, has extensively used digital platforms to disseminate its ideological narratives and destabilize its adversaries. Among its key targets is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which it portrays not only as a geopolitical rival but also as a heretical entity within the Islamic world. This study seeks to analyze how ISIS's media operations constitute a serious threat to the national security of Iran. Through a detailed examination of official ISIS media content, including Dabiq and Al-Naba, the research highlights how media narratives serve to challenge Iran’s religious legitimacy, incite sectarian division, and weaken public trust. In doing so, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how media warfare intersects with ideological radicalization and cognitive destabilization in the context of regional security threats.


Materials & Methods
The study adopts a qualitative methodology, specifically thematic content analysis, to assess ISIS’s strategic use of media in targeting Iran. The data corpus includes a purposive sample of ISIS media products—namely, Persian-language video messages, digital posters, statements, and articles in Dabiq and Al-Naba—produced from 2014 to 2022. These items were selected based on their direct references to Iran or Shiite populations. The research follows Braun and Clarke’s six-phase model of thematic analysis. In the first stage, the researcher familiarized themselves with the data by reviewing and annotating each media item. In the second stage, initial codes were developed to identify core themes such as “sectarian provocation,” “delegitimization of Iranian state,” “promotion of jihad,” and “psychological warfare.” The axial coding stage enabled the clustering of related codes into broader thematic categories: identity-based threats, legitimacy-based threats, and psychological threats. The final stages involved refining themes, interpreting their broader implications, and relating the findings to theoretical frameworks from media and security studies. The study triangulates ISIS media with academic literature on propaganda, narrative warfare, and national security to ensure analytical rigor and relevance.


Discussion & Result
The results of the study show that ISIS’s media content exhibits a coherent and aggressive narrative architecture aimed at destabilizing Iran on multiple fronts. In Dabiq, particularly Issue 13, Iran is framed as the culmination of historical deviation, with references to figures like Ibn Saba and apocalyptic narratives connecting Shiism to the coming of the Antichrist. The Shiite government is labeled as Rafidha and Taghut, denoting heretical and tyrannical elements. This semantic strategy seeks to create an existential dichotomy: ISIS as the true Islamic vanguard versus Iran as the ultimate internal threat. In Al-Naba, ISIS employs a more journalistic tone but remains ideologically rigid. Issues referencing attacks in Iran, such as the Shah Cheragh shrine attack, justify violence as part of divine duty to eliminate heresy. These messages are disseminated through social media and encrypted channels, often accompanied by professionally designed visuals that reinforce fear and spectacle. The study found three primary thematic strategies in ISIS media:
-Identity Subversion – Delegitimizing Iran’s Shiite identity and fostering sectarian polarization.
-Political Destabilization – Undermining the state’s legitimacy by depicting it as a tyrannical, apostate regime.
-Psychological Manipulation – Spreading fear and confusion through violent imagery and symbolic threats targeting national symbols like martyrdom (e.g., Mohsen Hojaji).
ISIS’s media warfare creates a fragmented informational landscape that challenges Iran's internal unity. The group weaponizes cultural symbols and religious rhetoric to erode national cohesion, amplify socio-political grievances, and attract vulnerable audiences to its cause.


Conclusion
The findings of this study confirm that ISIS’s media operations represent a multidimensional threat to the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This threat is not merely physical or military but deeply psychological, ideological, and sociopolitical. By strategically deploying narratives that challenge Iran’s religious identity, political legitimacy, and social unity, ISIS aims to destabilize Iran from within using non-kinetic means. The study contributes three key insights. First, media content in Dabiq and Al-Naba reveals a highly structured propaganda model tailored to Persian-speaking audiences, with specific references to Iranian political, religious, and cultural contexts. Second, the threats posed by ISIS are not isolated but interconnected across cognitive, ideological, and symbolic dimensions. Third, the study introduces a conceptual model categorizing media threats into identity, legitimacy, and psychological domains—each of which demands targeted counterstrategies. To mitigate these threats, Iranian national security and media policy must integrate counter-narrative strategies that address both the content and emotional logic of ISIS propaganda. This includes investing in strategic communication, enhancing public media literacy, and building digital resilience. Only through understanding and dismantling the narrative foundations of ISIS’s media warfare can Iran protect its national unity and ideological integrity in the face of evolving terrorist threats.

Keywords

Media warfare
ISIS
national security
Islamic Republic of Iran
media threats
Dabiq
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Interdisciplinary Studies in Media and Culture
Volume 15, Issue 1 - Serial Number 29
Spring and Summer 2025
December 2025
Pages 33-60

  • Receive Date 26 February 2025
  • Revise Date 03 June 2025
  • Accept Date 04 June 2025
  • Publish Date 23 August 2025

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