Iran’s Foreign Policy After the Nuclear Agreement (eBook)

Farhad Rezaei is Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM), Ankara, Turkey.

Contents 7
About the Author 10
Chapter 1: The Negotiated Political Order and the Making of Iran’s Foreign Policy 11
The Negotiated Political Order: A Precarious Balancing Act 16
Foreign Policy Decision-Making: Between Idealism and Realism 22
Beyond the JCPOA: Normalization and Its Challenges 26
Conclusion 28
References 29
Chapter 2: Iran and the United States: The Rise and Fall of the Brief Détente 31
Implementing the JCPOA: The Making or Breaking of Normalization 37
Limiting Terror and Military Interventions: Mission Impossible? 44
Improving Iran’s Human Right Record: Another Mission Impossible? 50
Conclusion 54
References 55
Chapter 3: Iran and Russia: Completing the Pivot to the East? 61
Building an Economic and Strategic Alliance with Vladimir Putin 63
Laying the Foundations for a Russian–Iranian Condominium in Syria 72
The Russian–Iranian Strategy of Preserving the “Binary Option:” Fighting the Anti-Assad Insurgents 75
The Russian–Iranian Relations in the Trump Era: Future Prospect for the Condominium 80
Conclusion 83
References 84
Chapter 4: Iran and the European Union: Challenges and Opportunities 92
The EU and the Path Toward the JCPOA: From Mediator to a Key Player 94
Restarting the EU–Iran Relations: The Economic Dimension 97
The EU to the Defense: Fighting the American Sanctions 104
EU’s Human Rights Convention and Iran: A Discordant Tone in a Warm Relationship 111
Conclusion 115
References 115
Chapter 5: Iran and Iraq: The Lebanonization Project in the Balance 121
Lebanonization of Iraq: Laying the Foundations of the Project 123
IRGC and the Making of the Islamic State in Iraq 132
Toward a Shiite–Sunni–Kurdish Federation? 137
Conclusion 143
References 145
Chapter 6: Iran and Syria: Leveraging the Victory? 149
From Arab Spring to Civil War 153
From a Neo-Protectorate to a Syrian Federation? 162
Conclusion 165
References 166
Chapter 7: Iran and Saudi Arabia: The Struggle for Regional Hegemony and Islamic Primacy 171
The Arab Spring in the Gulf: From Popular Protest to Civil War 174
Rouhani’s Short Détente with Saudi Arabia: The War in Yemen as a Spoiler 176
The Trump Administration: Tilting the Balance Toward Saudi Arabia 183
Conclusion 190
References 191
Chapter 8: Iran and Turkey: Frenemies for Ever? 196
Beyond the Kurds: Working Out the Kinks in the Bilateral Relation 201
The Arab Spring: Enemies More Than Friends 203
Operation Euphrates Shield: The View from Ankara and Tehran 208
The Frenemies Endgame: Iran–Turkish Space—Sharing in the Middle East? 211
Conclusion 214
References 215
Chapter 9: Iran and Israel: Taking on the “Zionist Enemy” 221
Rouhani’s Quest to Change the Attitude to Israel: Realism and Idealism on a Collision Course 227
Bolstering the Anti-Israel Proxies: Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad 231
Cumulative Deterrence and “War Between Wars”: IDF’s Response to Asymmetrical Warfare 237
The End-Game in Syria: Israel’s Gains and Losses 240
Conclusion 242
References 243
Chapter 10: Conclusions 249
Index 253