I’m continuing the conversation about China and Iran by talking with Mehran Kamrava from Georgetown University in Doha. Mehran’s books occupy a shelf in my bookcase, and at his current rate of productivity he’ll likely have the whole bookcase soon enough. His Triumph and Despair: In Search of Iran’s Islamic Republic (strategically located over my right should here) is an excellent study of the IRI, and like I say in the video, I learned a lot about Iranian politics from this book.
Ayatollah Khomeini famously stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran would look neither east nor west, referring to Cold War alignment. However, since then Iran has reevaluated its alignment strategies. The ‘Look East’ policy gained momentum throughout the administrations of Presidents Ahmadinejad and Rouhani, and became especially prominet under President Raisi as tensions between Iran and the West intensified.
