ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the somewhat artificial but convenient approach of examining, Iran's policies and dealings with each of three countries: Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. The Iranian revolution of 1979 brought about significant changes and sometimes dramatic reversals in Iran's foreign policy. In Iran, the Israeli connection had support in the military and in senior official circles; but the Shah was pursuing a policy that had little support among various other politically aware constituencies such as the left-wing intelligentsia, the religious community, traditional elements of the bazaar, and radical opposition. Iran's dramatic victories over Iraq in June 1982 influenced Iranian perceptions of the potential role of the Islamic Republic in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The close if informal alliance that has developed between Iran and Syria since the revolution is rooted both in revolutionary ideology and in the conditions created by the Iran-Iraq war.
