Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Reordering Iran's science and technology policy based on the triadic model of security, development and influence: With emphasis on science and technology diplomacy

Articles in Press

Document Type : Scientific Research Manuscript

Authors
Abolhassan Firouzabadi 1
Abdolhosein Kalantari 2
1 Former President of the National Cyberspace Center, Tehran, Iran
2 Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22035/jicr.2027.3673.3876
Abstract
In the emerging international order, science and technology have moved beyond being mere instruments of economic development to become the principal arena of power struggle, the shaping of world order and geopolitical reordering. In this condition, the boundary between "science policy" and "security policy" has collapsed, and technology has become the language of politics (Bjola & Kornprobst, 2025; AAAS & The Royal Society, 2025). This study asks how the science and technology policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran can be redesigned—under hybrid global conflict and the pressure of sanctions—around science diplomacy and technology diplomacy. Adopting a comparative–interpretive approach, it re-reads four national models (the United States, China, the Russian Federation and Israel) through the three axes of "security, development and influence" and formulates a "strategic triadic balance model" in dialogue with the theoretical literature on science and technology diplomacy. The findings show that over the past two decades Iran has succeeded in "technology for survival" yet lagged in "technology for welfare," producing a structural gap among security, development and society. Foregrounding Iran's civilizational narrative and an Iranian–Islamic ethics-of-technology framework as a distinctive cultural resource, the article proposes a five-stage cycle (identification, formulation, networking, implementation and evaluation) for Iran's technology diplomacy. On this basis, the transition from the logic of "enclosed innovation" to "strategic innovation" requires binding the governance of science and technology to science and technology diplomacy across the three balancing axes, so that Iran shifts from a consumer of the global technological order to a designer of a regional technological order and an active partner of the Global South.

Keywords
science diplomacy
technology diplomacy
science and technology policy
hybrid conflict
strategic triadic balance model
technology governance
Subjects
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Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 22 December 2026

  • Receive Date 09 May 2026
  • Revise Date 23 July 2026
  • Accept Date 08 August 2026