Pahlavi Iran's Relations with Africa
Cultural and Political Connections in the Cold War

The first comprehensive study of Iran's political and cultural interactions with Africa during the Cold War and decolonisation.

Robert Steele (Author)

9781009473149, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 June 2024

356 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.686 kg

This book presents the first comprehensive study of Iran's complex relationship with Africa during the late Pahlavi era. While many studies of Iran's foreign relations during the Cold War present Iranian policy as fully aligned with the United States, Robert Steele reveals Iran as an independent actor capable of forging its own path, and shows that Africa was central to Iran's economic policy and security strategy during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Africa was where the shah sought allies to balance the radicalism of Nasser, often through Iranian aid, customers for Iranian oil and potential sources of uranium. Bolstered by the British withdrawal from the Persian Gulf in 1971 and the oil price hike of 1973, Steele also shows how the shah saw an opportunity for his Iran to play a leading role in the Indian Ocean, revealing the central place of Africa in Iran's global strategy.

Introduction
Part I. Establishing Relations (c. 1957–1970): 1. Iran, Egypt and the spectre of nasserism
2. Iran, North Africa and Islamic solidarity
3. 'Creating influence and dialogue with the African continent', 1960–1968
4. Establishing ties with apartheid South Africa
Part II. Forming an Africa Policy (1971–1975): 5. North Africa, Islam and the great civilisation
6. Trouble in the horn and soviet encroachment
7. Iran and West Africa
8. Distributing the oil wealth: Africa and Iranian aid
Part III. Africa and Pahlavi Iran's Grand Strategy (1976–1979): 9. Iran and Senegal: building a special relationship in Africa, 1975–1979
10. Southern Africa: the politics of race and oil
11. Iran, the Ogaden war and African security in the late 1970s
Conclusion
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]