PRINCIPLES OF LEGITIMACY OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF WESTERN THEORIES

One of the concerns preoccupying the minds of politicians is the legitimacy of states. Thus, they have always sought to provide an answer to the question of why states must be obeyed and how they obtained the right to rule. Legitimacy is one of the issues appropriated by states to justify their sovereignty and enforcement of power. Thus, a state with no legitimacy cannot exercise power to rule, or resort to overt force in this regard. This article discusses the foundations of the legitimacy of states in order to survive and perpetuate their power and then addresses the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran by virtue of its constitution and the ideas of its founder.