Empires and Opportunism: Russia, Iran, and China

Abstract

As Iranian relations with the United States soured after the 1979 Islamic revolution, Tehran turned to the Soviet Union and then successor state Russia, hoping to find an ally with whom it shared a mutual distrust of Washington. But Moscow proved unreliable as its policies toward the US shifted dramatically and unpredictably, writes Dmitry Shlapentokh of Indiana University. Now, Tehran hopes to find a more solid partner in a China that is prepared to challenge and compete with a weakened US and Russia.