Foreign Policy of Iran under President Hassan Rouhani's First Term (2013–2017)

The book deals with President Hassan Rouhani’s conceptual approach to foreign policy. It discusses the main pillars of thinking underpinning Rouhani’s administration and the school of thought associated with it, with a focus on issues pertaining to development as well as international relations.

The signature of the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” in 2015 showed the Iranian commitment towards the international requests on guarantees and transparency on its nuclear enrichment program. The book analyses the actual impact of the nuclear deal on the Gulf regional politics, with especial emphasis on the Iran-Saudi Arabia balance of power and the internal implications at political and economic level. It will assess the success or failure of the nuclear deal JCPOA as a foreign policy tool and it impact for Iran and the region.

The book also analyses Iran’s relations with other gulf Arab states, Latin America, Africa and its ‘war on terror’ along with its allies Syria and Iraq.

Introduction.- Chapter 1 Exploring Rouhani’s Foreign Policy Doctrine, 2013-2017.- Chapter 2 Rouhani’s School of Thought: A Critical Discussion of its Developmental and Foreign Policy Doctrines.- Chapter 3 The Success and Failure of the Iranian Nuclear Deal JCPOA.- Chapter 4 Saudi-Iran Relations Across the Sectarian Divide.- Chapter 5 Iran’s ‘War on Terror’: Iranian foreign policy towards Syria and Iraq during the Rouhani Era.- Chapter 6 Iran and Russia: between Pragmatism and the Dreamed Strategic Alliance. Chapter 7 Recovering opportunities: Iran’s foreign policy toward Latin America (2013-2016).- Chapter 8 Determinants and Dynamics of Iran’s Presence in Africa: The Case of Senegal.- Chapter 9 The Feasibility of Energy Cooperation Between Iran and the Gulf Arab States.- Chapter 10 Conclusion.

Luciano Zaccara is Research Assistant Professor in Gulf Politics at the Qatar University, Gulf Studies Center, Qatar, and Director of the Observatory on Politics and Elections in the Arab and Muslim World in Spain. He has been Assistant Professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, a visiting Research Scholar at the Center for Iranian Studies at Princeton University, and Visiting Researcher at Exeter University, Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies. He holds PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain.