The speed of events in the disaster zone that the Middle East currently represents is unrelenting. Just as attention was focused on Lebanon and refocused on Gaza, Israel announced the death of Yahiya Sinwar, head of Hamas and architect of the atrocious invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023. Across the West, and possibly beyond, this development was viewed with relief _ if only because it may allow for a hostage deal to finally occur. But in Iran, the death called for the mourning of a Martyr. This is not by chance: Iran is a major protagonist in the region.
From two missile attacks on Israel, to supporting Hizbollah, Hamas and the Houthis — Iran is perceived to be a malign presence across the Middle East, especially from the Western perspective. This is undoubtedly underpinned by its broken relations with the US, which dates back to the 1979-81 hostage crisis, coupled with its current closer relationship with China while also supplying armaments to Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
These are difficult positions for the Western mind, but they stem from the Iranian interest and perspective. To better understand both interest and perspective, Ilana Bet-El is joined by Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian of Cambridge University in a strong and enlightening discussion that touches on the history of Iran and its international position since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, through the Iran-Iraq war of the 1990s, all the way to understanding its regional and global interests today.
This episode was recorded on 14 October 2024
Mentions
- The Iran hostage crisis
- Iran-Israel relations: “A Brief History of Israeli-Iranian Cooperation and Confrontation” and “How Iran and Israel became archenemies”
- Iranian weapon transfers to Russia: source 1 and source 2
- Roxane’s inspiration: An American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal by Neil King Jr
Follow our guests:
- Dr. Roxane Farmanfarmaian LinkedIn and her book “Blood & Oil: A Prince’s Memoir of Iran, from the Shah to the Ayatollah”
- Roxane articles on European Leadership Network website
Follow our social media
- Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
- Our partner European Leadership Network social media Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook
- Our partner European Leadership Network website
- Ilana Bet-El
Credits
- Production: Florence Ferrando
- Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-roll License code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
Image credit: Florence Ferrando
