Nuclear Discourse and State Legitimacy in Iran: How Iran Leverages Its Nuclear Program to Secure Domestic Support

Exploring how Iranian political leaders have framed Iran’s nuclear program as proof of the system’s efficiency to bolster domestic legitimacy, this new volume analyses the internal divisions and global pressures undermining Iran’s political narrative.

Nuclear Discourse and State Legitimacy in Iran: How Iran Leverages Its Nuclear Program to Secure Domestic Support examines the social dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program. By analyzing the nuclear discourses that have emerged over the past two decades in Iran, the author demonstrates how political leaders have portrayed the nuclear program as an indication of the political system’s efficiency in overcoming the crisis of political legitimacy. This book demonstrates that while internal conflicts and international pressures caused nuclear discourses to lose their legitimacy-building potential, the persistence of an inefficiency crisis continues to fuel the legitimacy crisis. These developments could potentially pave the way for a shift in Iran’s relations with the West.

Hossein Nourani is an independent scholar holding a PhD in Social Sciences from Hitotsubashi University. His publications about discourse, social media, and political sociology have appeared in journals such as Digest of the Middle East Studies and Strategic Analysis.