ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews Iran’s foreign policy, particularly after the revolution in the context of the Cold War and the post-Cold War era. It introduces the fundamentals of Iran’s foreign policy and its journey from revolutionary zeal towards a more pragmatic approach based on geopolitical realities. The chapter examines the evolution of the “neither East, nor West” principle throughout the history of the Islamic Republic. It demonstrates how the early revolutionary goals of the Islamic Republic, such as ‘transforming the international system’ and the ‘export of the revolution,’ resulted in the isolation of Iran. The chapter discusses how, by the late 1980s, Iran’s revolutionary leaders came to realize the necessity for change in their modus operandi in order to survive and reviews their efforts towards developing relations with different countries. It provides an account of the adaptation of a more pragmatic approach which sought to reintegrate Iran into the international community by Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.
