Exclusion, delegitimization, and moderation: the critical discourse analysis of the 12-day Iran-israel war

This study investigates how discourse elements are transformed within Iran-Israel conflict using recontextualization strategy. While widely used across disciplines, this approach remains underexplored in analysing contemporary geopolitical conflicts involving political and religious framings. The 12-day Iran – Israel war and the broader Palestinian issue have generated competing narratives shaped by Sunni – Shia divisions. The study examines how Indonesian Sunni-affiliated preachers, some associated with Wahhabi orientations, construct discourses on the Iran – Israel conflict through YouTube sermons. Using a discourse-historical approach (DHA), the analysis distinguishes between conceptual, rhetorical, and linguistic dimensions of recontextualization. The findings show that historical narratives, Qur’anic references, religious interpretations, universal concepts, and eschatological frames are recontextualized to construct exclusionary representations that position Iran and its Shia-aligned groups outside the broader Islamic community. A further finding is that this recontextualization is not always expressed through explicit sectarian opposition, but often through universal humanitarian and anti-colonial discourse, which functions to reframe or partially obscure sectarian distinctions. Overall, the study highlights how ideological meanings are constructed through the strategic recontextualization of religious, historical, and political discourse elements.