This article examines one of the fundamental challenges of macro-policymaking in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the conflict between the development-oriented goals of the 2025 Vision Document and the security-confrontational approach of its foreign policy over the past two decades. Contrary to mainstream international relations approaches (realism and liberalism), which attribute this contradiction to the prioritization of short-term security interests over long-term economic benefits, this study employs the theoretical framework of constructivism to demonstrate that the issue is rooted in identity and discursive conflicts. The main question of the article is why Iran's foreign policy has practically come into conflict with the development-oriented goals of the 2025 Vision Document. The findings indicate that two competing "national identities" have been constructed and reproduced within Iran's socio-political structure: 1. A developmental-interactive identity, emerging from the discourse of global engagement and cooperation; 2. A revolutionary-resistance identity, shaped by historical experiences and the ideological perspective of the system.

Using an interpretive-analytical method and examining key case studies, this article shows that the reality of Iran's foreign policy is not an objective given but a socio-normative construct formed through the interaction of competing identities and discourses. Policies based on economic development and a resistance economy impose different requirements on policymaking institutions, making the simultaneous pursuit of development and resistance impossible. In the process of successive shifts and inconsistent orientations, identity, ideological, and normative indicators undergo constant redefinition, to the extent that one can no longer speak of a fixed path or a stable identity. It appears that an integrated approach, encompassing the requirements of both spectrums and establishing a consensus on central and floating signifiers, could help create a balance between development and security.