At the center of the transformation in Iran's defense and deterrence doctrine, which has taken shape with the wars of June 2025 and February 2026 and has become increasingly consolidated, lies a preemptive and proactive approach. According to this approach, Tehran has largely abandoned the traditional understanding that rested on waiting for a threat to materialize and for the country to come under attack, and then producing a reactive response. Instead, it has shifted to a strategic culture that envisages undertaking preemptive moves before a threat materializes, institutionalizing a permanent state of readiness, and using this readiness itself as an instrument of deterrence. This transformation can also be read as a version of the "forward defense" concept that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has developed at the regional level since the 2010s, extended toward the home front and the societal sphere.
This analysis was co-authored with Çağatay Balcı and was first published by İRAM on October 12, 2026.