This article explains Ummah‑orientation in Iran’s foreign policy through a combined approach of structural realism and constructivism. This framework has played a central role in Iran’s regional behavior and has influenced the country’s foreign‑policy orientations. Ummah‑orientation, with its emphasis on Islamic unity, support for the oppressed, opposition to systems of domination, and backing for resistance groups, in addition to its ideological dimension, has a strategic function in strengthening Iran’s strategic depth and increasing its regional influence. The aim of this research is to analyze how this idea manifests and becomes operational in light of the structural constraints of the international system, and to examine the role of identities and intersubjective norms in its reproduction. The main question is how Ummah‑orientation has taken shape through the interaction between the requirements of power balancing and the social construction of identity, and how it has confronted regional and global challenges. The hypothesis is that a foreign policy based on Ummah‑orientation, while grounded in identity and discursive foundations, is nonetheless compelled at the structural level to adapt to the anarchic logic of the international system and the balance of power; and international reactions to it can largely be explained within the framework of containing influence and reproducing the balance of power. The present study, adopting a descriptive‑analytical approach, finds that Ummah‑orientation is not merely an ideology, but rather a composite strategy combining hard and soft power