The study aimed to investigate addiction readiness based on psychological security with the mediating role of resilience among university students living under conditions of military tensions. This study employed a descriptive-correlational design based on path analysis. The statistical population consisted of all university students in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Lorestan during the academic year 2025–2026, who were assessed concurrently with the escalation of regional military tensions. A sample of 250 students was selected using convenience sampling, and after removing incomplete and outlier data, the final analyses were conducted on the data from 248 participants. The research instruments included the Addiction Readiness Scale developed by Zargar (2006), Maslow’s Psychological Security Scale (2004), and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (2003). Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis, and mediation analysis through the PROCESS macro with a bootstrap method based on 5,000 resamples. The findings indicated that psychological security had a significant direct and negative effect on addiction readiness (β = -0.320, p < 0.01) and was simultaneously positively and significantly associated with resilience (β = 0.536, p < 0.01). Mediation analysis further demonstrated that resilience significantly mediated the relationship between psychological security and addiction readiness. These findings suggest that resilience represents an important psychological mechanism through which psychological security influences addiction readiness; accordingly, strengthening resilience may enhance the protective effects of psychological security in reducing vulnerability to addiction. Therefore, resilience-based interventions may play an effective role in decreasing students’ susceptibility to addiction under conditions of military tension.