Iran and the United States: An Insider's View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace.

• Author: Partow, Negar
• Position: Book review

IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES: An Insider's View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace

Author: Seyed Hossein Mousavian with Shahir Shahidsaless

Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2014, 368pp, US$35.

Since the termination of political ties between the United States and Iran in 1979 many scholarly efforts have been made to explain the reasons for the failure of reconciliation efforts between the two countries. This is because the termination significantly impacted the political map of the region and the balance of power amongst the major regional actors. The present book is a brilliant attempt to elaborate the position of Iran's government and the obstacles that have prevented the re-establishment of ties with the United States or the progress of any possible opportunity for re-normalisation of political ties.

In his book Mousavian, an Iranian career diplomat since the 1979 revolution, studies United States--Iran political relations in a historical context to identify the factors that have shaped the fate of many attempts for negotiations, including spoilers, ideological positions and the domestic politics of each country. He argues that mistrust between the parties is the core factor in the failure of many unofficial attempts conducted by moderate technocrats since 1980. Through a detailed historical account of the major events that have shaped Iran--US relations, Mousavian explains how mistrust developed as the dominant factor and then suggests ways through which the two countries could more positively interact. He acknowledges the difficult path to normalisation of relations but suggests that the benefits of dialogue for both countries supersede the cost that each has paid for the historical issues.

Rather than a literature-based book solely concentrating on secondary resources, Mousavian has produced one that combines scholarly literature as well as personal experience. Mousavian argues that for Iran's supreme leader and other politicians, particularly amongst the conservative factions, the United States' ultimate goal is regime change and replacement of the Islamic Republic with a puppet regime. On the other hand, the US administrations of the last three decades, while differing in policies and in some cases more lenient towards the resumption of political ties with Iran, all share a mistrust in Iran's sincerity. Mousavian, who has been either a member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team or their advisers since 2002, explains...