Shiites of the United Arab Emirates; Opportunities, challenges and strategies

Considering the undeniable importance of the Persian Gulf region in the past and present, as well as the different approaches and policies towards the Shiite minority in the countries south of the Persian Gulf, this thesis focuses on the status of Shiites in the mentioned countries; The UAE in particular. Accordingly, in the theoretical framework on identity, the present study uses intercultural relations and intercultural communication policies. First, using the method of documentary study, the history of the arrival of Shiites in the south of the Persian Gulf, the geographical distribution of Shiites, and their status in countries south of the Persian Gulf will be discussed. In the second part, the status of the UAE Shiites is discussed using the documentary method. Then, using the interview method, the pattern of intercultural communication between the Shiites of UAE as a religious minority group and the dominant community in this country is determined. This is to determine what communication strategy the Shiites use in relation to the dominant structure in UAE. Also, the strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats facing this community are extracted based on the SWOT model, and library and interview method. Finally, the four strategies of aggressive (strengths and opportunities), conservative (weakness and opportunity), defense (weakness and threat) and competition (strength and threat) are offered for the analysis of the communication modes of the Shiites in the UAE. The findings of this study show that the degree of religiousness of individuals affects the choice of their communication pattern with others. In addition to the four strategies derived from the SWOT model, the strategies that the Islamic Republic of Iran can take to strengthen the Shiite identity of the UAE Shiites have been proposed at four levels of government, Sunnis, UAE Shiites, and tradespersons.