Ma`rifat Siyasi

Public opinion, as one of the legitimizing pillars of political systems, has always been a focus of attention for domestic and foreign actors. Analyzing the discourse of the model of public opinion management in the Islamic Republic of Iran and its confrontation with the enemy's thought engineering strategies, this research, examines the duality of "political action - political passivity." The findings show that the Islamic Republic of Iran, relying on the model of religious democracy, uses tools such as Jihad of Explanation, domestic media, and popular institutions to strengthen "convergence", and counter the projects of opinion engineering. Utilizing foreign media and social networks, the enemies in contrast, seek to induce despair, promote political passivity, and create "divergence" in society. This level of action and passivity can manifest itself on a national or even regional scale, potentially leading to regional convergence or divergence as well. Employing the method of discourse analysis and citing library documents, the present study analyzes the key components of this confrontation. The results indicate that the enemy's opinion engineering, in the form of projects such as Iranophobia and the distortion of domestic achievements, seeks to undermine social capital and reduce political participation; while the public opinion management model of the Islamic Republic emphasizes clarification, trust-building, and the strengthening of collective action. In conclusion, solutions such as enhancing media literacy and redefining the discourse of resistance are proposed to neutralize the enemy's conspiracies.