Iran and the United States: An Insider's View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace

Mousavian (former Iranian diplomat; research scholar, Princeton Univ.; The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir) opens with a brief outline of the major events characterizing the positive U.S.-Iranian relations until the Iranian Revolution of 1979, including the admittedly poor decision by the United States in its backing of the 1953 coup and unwavering support of the Shah. The majority of the remaining pages examines the relationship since 1979, exploring the dichotomous cultural and political clash between the two nations. Mousavian does an incredible job of walking readers through the major issues that continue to hamper elusive attempts at attaining peace between the United States and Iran while maintaining a central theme revolving around a "profound mistrust, misperceptions, and a lack of mutual understanding." The author concludes by offering a very clear outline, beginning and ending with the need for both sets of leadership to clearly define what the desired end result of a peace process should be—what each side stands to gain and has to offer. This well-researched work written with ShahidSaless is essential to any collection of U.S.-Iranian relations. It is also timely, given President Barack Obama's April 2014 signing of a law that bars entrance to the United States by any foreign diplomat seen as a threat to national security, which includes Iran's choice for United Nations envoy Hamid Aboutalebi because of suspicions of his involvement in the hostage crisis.