Iranian Perspectives on the Iran-Iraq War

"A comprehensive collection of original essays . . . by scholars and policy experts living in Iran, some of whom experienced the war firsthand. . . . A valuable book."--Hooshang Amirahmadi, Rutgers University

"Contains considerable new information on the Iran-Iraq War and as such is a contribution to our understanding of this important conflict. The most original contribution of the [book], however, is the unique forum that it provides for documentation of a genuinely Iranian perspective on the war. There is no other book . . . that accomplishes this."--Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Florida International University

This collection of original essays examines the difficult conclusion of the Iran-Iraq War and assesses the impact of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the effect of UN Resolution 598 (1988), and the enduring effects of the war on both Iran and Iraq. Compiling the work of Iranian scholars educated in the West but living and working in Iran, the volume provides the only genuinely Iranian assessment available of the war and its aftermath.

CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Views from Within, by Farhang Rajaee
Part I: The Policy Dynamics
2. Taking Sides: Regional Powers and the War, by Saideh Lotfian
3. Neutral Statements, Committed Practice: The USSR and the War, by Kazem Sajjadpour
4. Collectively or Singly: Western Europe and the Iran-Iraq War, by Ahmad Naghibzadeh
5. Containment and Animosity: The United States and the War, by Reza Ra'iss Tousi
6. Double Standard: The Security Council and the Two Wars, by Bahram Mostaghimi and Masoud Taromsari
Part II: Conceptual Dimensions
7. National, Ethnic, and Sectarian Issues in the Iran-Iraq War, by Neguin Yavari
8. Revolution, Ideology, and the War, by Hossein S. Seifzadeh
9. Facts and Allegations: Iraqi Disclaimer of the 1975 Treaty, by Jalil Roshandel
10. Decision-Making Inputs: Iraq's Premises before the War, by Mahmood Sariolghalam
11. Peace through Deception: The Iran-Iraq Correspondence, by Ali Asghar Kazemi
Part III: Postwar Developments
12. The Implementation of UN Resolution 598, by Djamchid Momtaz
13. Iranian Foreign Policy in the Postwar Era, by Houchang Hassan-Yari
14. "Continual Aggression": Iraq's Decision to Invade Kuwait, by Daryoush Akhavan-Zanjani

Farhang Rajaee is associate professor of international relations at Iran's National University in Tehran and editor of The Iran-Iraq War: The Politics of Aggression (UPF, 1993).