“Amid much noise and misunderstanding over Iran’s foreign relations and its nuclear program, Banafsheh Keynoush has produced a solid work of scholarship on these two related topics. Zeroing in on Iran’s relations with India, China, the US, the EU, and Russia, she examines Iran’s foreign policy with insight and in depth. This excellent addition to the scholarship should be required reading for all students, experts, and policymakers interested in understanding Iran’s relations with the world powers.”

“Banafsheh Keynoush has written a rich account of Iranian relations with great powers over the last ten years. The book builds on conversations with former policymakers in the United States and abroad, and provides a useful lens for understanding the challenges in reviving the nuclear deal.”

“This book delivers an insightful examination of Iran’s nuclear program and the nuances of its important bilateral relationships with major powers. Through the lens of international relations theories, Keynoush’s argument that Iran, as a middle power, was able to change the position of great powers is welcome to both IR theory and Middle East politics.”

“Few thinkers are as qualified as Banafsheh Keynoush to offer a critical reflection of Iran’s place in the world. Her latest book offers a sweeping analysis of Iran’s nuclear programme in the context of Tehran’s engagement with global politics. This hugely ambitious tome offers a timely insight into Iran’s actions on the world stage and should be essential reading for all Western diplomats engaging with Iran about the nuclear question.”

“In this rigorously researched book, Keynoush deftly unpacks Iran’s nuclear calculations over the course of the last decade. As Keynoush tracks the competing policy argument in Tehran, she shows how Iran continues to wrestle with identifying and protecting what it considers to be its national interests on the regional and global stages. This informative book is a much welcome addition to the literature on Iranian national security policy-making.”

“Dr. Keynoush makes an important contribution to our understanding of Iranian foreign policy. Placing Tehran’s involvement in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) within a broader global context, there are highly informative chapters on Iran’s bilateral relations worldwide, especially those with China, India, and Russia that often do not get the attention they deserve. This excellent book deserves wide readership.”

“This volume is a valuable and timely analysis of Iran’s perspective on the hot-button nuclear issue in its relations with the full range of major powers == the U.S., the EU, Russia, China, and even India == over the entire past decade.  It has the added virtue of striving to place all of this factual material into appropriate theoretical frameworks, and the even greater virtue of acknowledging where and when such theories fall short.  A prime case in point, the author shows, is the enduring hostility between Iran and the U.S., which reflects a complex and fluid mixtures of ideologies and interests that do not fit neatly into any preconceived categories.”

“The volume is fresh in its tone, measured in its analysis, and clear-eyed in its conclusions, doubled by a simple, direct, and practical set of guidelines for dealing with Iran. The most valuable conclusion is that offensive realism can be practiced successfully even by second-tier powers.”

“From a Norwegian foreign affairs vantage point, where balancing a reputation as international peacemaker, giant oil producer, and close US ally is the main task, this book offers a refreshing view of the strategic importance of allowing Iran and Saudi Arabia to regain a balanced partnership in pursuit of security and lower ideological tensions. . . a carefully argued revelation.”

“‘Dr. Keynoush’s book makes a timely intervention towards understanding the delicately poised Saudi-Iranian relationship. Extensively researched and historically nuanced in approach, it provides a much needed corrective to studies that view the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran through the sectarian prism in the main. By foregrounding the role of external actors like the United States in the region, and the shifting logic of power politics, the analysis effectively reframes a relationship that remains critical to the stability and security of the Persian Gulf region. A welcome addition to the literature on contemporary politics and international diplomacy, the book ought to be read by students and policy makers of the Middle East.”