Both before and after the Islamic Revolution, Iran has aspired to be a regional power. Prior to 1979, Washington supported Tehran's ambitions -- after all, the Shah provided a bulwark against both Communist and radical Arab nationalism. Following the Islamic Revolution, however, U.S. officials viewed Iranian visions of grandeur warily.

This wariness has grown as the Islamic Republic pursues nuclear technology in contravention to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement and multiple United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions. In addition, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has played an increasingly destabilizing role in Iran's immediate neighborhood. [1] But, while U.S. officials scramble to devise a strategy to contain, deter, and perhaps roll back Iranian influence in the greater Middle East, Ahmadinejad's government and the IRGC, flush with cash and overconfident with recent success, now aspire to be worldwide players.

Compartmentalized State Department and Defense Department officers focus on Iranian influence in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf states and the Palestinian Authority, but a broader perspective that spans country desks suggests that the Islamic Republic now seeks to become a global power. Under Ahmadinejad, Iranian officials have pursued a coordinated diplomatic, economic, and military strategy to expand their influence in Latin America and Africa. They have found success not only in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia, but also in Senegal, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. These new alliances will together challenge U.S. interests in these states and in the wider region, especially if Tehran pursues an inkblot strategy to expand its influence to other regional states.

LATIN AMERICA:  CHALLENGING THE MONROE DOCTRINE

Only under Ahmadinejad, though, has the Iranian government pursued a sustained effort to reach out to Latin American countries. Using hundreds of millions -- if not billions -- of dollars in aid and assistance, Ahmadinejad has worked to create an anti-American bloc with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. While Ahmadinejad's first priority may be to solidify diplomatic support among third-world countries, his baiting -- and the subsequent baiting by his allies -- of Washington and his efforts to further destabilize the neighborhood suggest that he now seeks a permanent Iranian presence on the U.S. doorstep.

The cornerstone of Ahmadinejad's Latin America policy is the formation of an anti-American axis with Venezuela, a goal driven as much by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as it is by the Iranian leader. During a July, 2006. visit to Tehran, Chávez told a Tehran University crowd, "We have to save humankind and put an end to the U.S. empire." [5] The two met again just two months later during the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Havana. [6] When Chávez again visited Tehran -- just a year after his first visit -- supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted him an audience, [7] an honor bestowed only upon political figures the Iranian leadership deems its closest partners. At the time, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki quipped that "Hugo Chávez is becoming -- or rather has already become -- a household name in Iran and perhaps the region, thanks to his frequent trips to the Islamic Republic." [8] Ahmadinejad and Chávez used the visit to declare an "Axis of Unity" against the United States. [9]

Shuttle diplomacy has gone both ways. Just two months after fêting Chávez in Tehran, Ahmadinejad visited him in Caracas. [10] "Together we are surely growing stronger, and, in truth, no one can defeat us," he told the Venezuelan press. [11] Standing beside Chávez during a trip to Tehran just four months later -- Chávez's fourth visit to the Iranian capital in just two years -- Ahmadinejad declared, "The peoples of Iran and Venezuela will stand shoulder to shoulder with the disadvantaged nations of the world, in spite of the opposition of World Imperialism," which is Ahmadinejad's moniker for the United States of America. [12]

Whereas Iran plies poorer countries with aid, on condition that they alter their stances toward the United States, both Iran and Venezuela are oil rich, and so the relationship is more cooperative. Certainly, Tehran appreciates Chávez's diplomatic interventions. Indeed, had Venezuela been victorious in its efforts to win a UN Security Council seat in 2006, it is doubtful that Washington or its European allies would have achieved the symbolic victory of unanimous Security Council resolutions sanctioning Iran's nuclear program. [13]

Both leaders use their mutual embrace to overcome international isolation and sanctions. During his July, 2007, visit to Tehran, Chávez presented Ahmadinejad with an Airbus A340-200 as a sign of friendship [14] at a time when many Western countries looked askance at exporting modern aircraft to the Islamic Republic, for fear that a plane might be cannibalized for spare parts in support of Iran's aging military fleet. Such cooperation has made moot the efforts of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to offer such concessions in order to entice greater Iranian compliance toward its international commitments. For example, just months after she agreed that U.S. companies could export spare aircraft parts to Iran, [15] Ahmadinejad announced the commencement of scheduled passenger flights between Tehran and Caracas. [16]

Both leaders have also used their solidarity to support the other against domestic criticism. On opening two Iranian factories in Caracas, Chávez lauded the "achievements made after the Islamic Revolution," contrasting them sharply with life under the Shah [17] -- comments that meant little to the Venezuelan audience, but helped Ahmadinejad deflect domestic criticism of his management of Iran's failing economy. Ahmadinejad, for his part, parroted Chávez's anti-American rhetoric to the Venezuelan audience, supporting the populist President's contention that Venezuelan ills derive from U.S. plots, rather than economic mismanagement. [18] More bizarre have been reports -- clearly false -- that "entire native tribes" in Venezuela have converted to Shia Islam. [19] Such propaganda, however, plays well to clerical constituencies in Iran that may feel that their President's adventurism runs contrary to more immediate Iranian regional interests.

Increased trade has augmented the diplomatic embrace. As Chávez moved to nationalize Western oil facilities in Venezuela, [20] the Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA announced a $4 billion joint Iran-Venezuela oil production project in east-central Venezuela. [21] In April, 2007, Mottaki bragged that bilateral trade between Venezuela and the Islamic Republic would soon total $18 billion, [22] which, even if an exaggeration, is nevertheless a sign of Iranian strategy to pursue soft power influence. Several recent visitors to Caracas have commented on the number of Iranians in the city's hotels.

Cuba, of course, has been part of the Iranian-Venezuelan embrace, although Cuban leader Fidel Castro's illness and the Communist island nation's poverty may have dampened its utility as a primary player. Besides hosting the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in 2006, however, Havana has joined Tehran and Caracas in efforts to form a joint shipping line [23] -- an asset that, given the disorganization of U.S. and European sanctions enforcement, might help each country bypass certain sanctions. Not every shipping company, for example, may be as compliant with Tehran's sensitivities as one operated by Cubans and Venezuelans. There have already been reports -- refuted by the Venezuelan Ambassador in Tehran -- that Venezuela has enabled Iranian scientists to conduct some nuclear work in the South American state, out of the view of international inspectors. [24]

Both Tehran and Caracas have used their petrodollar windfall to encourage states in Latin America and Africa to embark upon confrontational policies toward the United States. [25] Perhaps, the primary beneficiaries in Latin America have been Nicaragua and Bolivia. Just days after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's inauguration, Ahmadinejad reveled in the former Socialist revolutionary's return to power. "The two nations share identical ideals" and a common enemy in the United States, Ahmadinejad said. [26] Ortega endorsed "strong bonds" between the "two nations and [their] revolutions." [27] Iran's Embassy in Managua is now the largest diplomatic mission in the city. [28] Ortega returned Ahmadinejad's visit within months of taking office, traveling to Tehran on a jet lent by Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. [29] In Tehran, Ahmadinejad spoke of growing Iranian-Nicaraguan ties as the cornerstones of "an order based on justice, peace, and brotherhood." [30] In a subsequent session with Ortega, Khamenei spoke of their mutual antipathy toward the United States. [31]

Venezuela might be able to stand on its own, but Nicaragua cannot. The Islamic Republic's embrace of Nicaragua came with strings attached. Storm-ravaged and unfriendly to investors, Nicaragua gained a needed cash infusion. In the months after Ortega's visit to the Islamic Republic, the two countries signed a number of trade accords, [32] and Tehran agreed to finance a $350 million Nicaraguan port. [33] After the announcement of these deals, Ortega called the United States "a terrorist nation" [34] and later endorsed the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. [35] Alluding to this program, Ahmadinejad even offered to transfer "up-to-date experiences and knowledge to Nicaragua." [36] One seasoned Nicaraguan ambassador, slightly embarrassed by Ortega's pro-Iranian rhetoric, told an interlocutor that not only Tehran but also Caracas had made aid to Nicaragua contingent upon Managua's frequent statements of support for Tehran. Regardless of whether Nicaragua is motivated by Venezuelan cash or ideological antipathy toward the United States, an isolated Tehran gains an ally with "identical and common political views." [37]

Bolivia, too, has become an important Iranian ally. Under the leadership of Juan Evo Morales, La Paz has welcomed alliance with Tehran. As with Nicaragua, Bolivia gets aid -- upwards of $1.1 billion in "industrial cooperation" [38] -- and Iran gets a diplomatic ally. On September 4, 2007, amid international efforts to augment sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca Céspedes endorsed "Iran's nuclear rights" and called for international support for the Islamic Republic's position. [39] Tehran rewarded Bolivia with the opening of an embassy in La Paz, [40] certainly a sign that Tehran no longer saw the landlocked South American country as peripheral to its interests.

There is nothing wrong with countries engaging with other countries. Tehran could argue that they have as much interest in strong relations with Latin America as Washington has with the Persian Gulf emirates or newly independent Central Asian or Caucasian republics. But it would be dangerous to dismiss Iranian outreach as altruistic and irrelevant to U.S. national security concerns.

The Islamic Republic's state broadcasting authority has in recent months established partnerships with its Bolivian and Nicaraguan counterparts, not only to help these countries expand their own messaging, but also to have a platform for Iranian-sponsored broadcasts "for all of Latin America." [41] The idea that Ahmadinejad might see Latin America as a beachhead from which to conduct an aggressive strategy against the United States and its allies gained further credence when, earlier this month, Colombian forces raided a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) encampment and seized a computer whose files referenced FARC plans to purchase fifty kilograms of uranium, [42] raising concern among some U.S. officials that the purchase may have been facilitated with Iranian money and offices.

AFRICA:  IRAN'S NEXT FRONTIER

The traditional pattern in which Iranian actions fail to live up to diplomatic rhetoric also appears to be changing in Africa, with Tehran developing strong partnerships with a number of states. The Islamic Republic has forged particularly strong ties with Senegal, once a Cold War ally of the United States, but now quietly turning into West Africa's Venezuela. President Abdoulaye Wade has traveled twice to Tehran to meet with Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, first in 2006 and again in 2008. [45] During his most recent visit, he provided a backdrop for Khamenei to declare that developing unity between Islamic countries like Senegal and Iran can weaken "the great powers" like the United States. [46] It would be a mistake to dismiss this as a rhetorical flourish: on January 27, 2008, a week after Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio announced that he, too, would visit Tehran, Minister of Armed Forces Becaye Diop met with his Iranian counterpart to discuss expanding bilateral defense ties between the two states. [47]

Senior Iranian officials have returned the visits. On July 22, 2007, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham -- among the closest confidantes of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, respectively -- departed for Dakar, where they met Wade and Senegalese Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré. Shahroudi declared, "We believe it is our duty to expand ties with Islamic countries and use the capabilities and potentials [sic] of Muslim states to help the growth and spread of Islam." [48] On March 12, 2008, Ahmadinejad left for a visit to the West African state.[49]

While the Iranian leadership might be most interested in expanding a Muslim bloc -- especially one that might supplant the influence of Sunni Arab states -- the Senegalese leadership seems most interested in immediate economic benefits. "Energy, Oil Prospecting, Industry: Senegal Benefits from Iranian Solutions," a headline in the official government newspaper declared after Wade's first visit to Tehran. [50] After the reciprocal Iranian visit, Wade announced that Iran would build an oil refinery, a chemical plant, and an $80 million car assembly plant in the West African nation. [51] Within weeks, Samuel Sarr, Senegal's Energy Minister, visited Tehran and returned with a pledge that Iran would supply Senegal with oil for a year and purchase a 34 percent stake in Senegal's oil refinery. [52] Such aid probably came with strings attached. On November 25, 2007, during the third meeting of the Iran-Senegal Joint Economic Commission, Wade endorsed Iran's nuclear program. [53]

Senegal is not alone among those countries Tehran is cultivating. While Iranian officials trumpet Islam during meetings with Muslim officials, the Islamic Republic is willing to embrace any African state -- Muslim or not -- that finds itself estranged from the West in general and the United States in particular. Here, Sudan and Zimbabwe especially have been beneficiaries. Both European governments and Washington have sought to isolate Sudan for what many international human rights groups deem genocide in Darfur. As the international community sought to tighten diplomatic sanctions on Khartoum, Ahmadinejad moved to embrace Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. [54] Ahmadinejad was forthright: Iranian-Sudanese ties should be built around the understanding that both governments would defend each other in international settings. [55] Just this month, Iran's Defense Minister visited Khartoum and called the African state "the cornerstone" of the Islamic Republic's Africa policies. [56]

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's longtime President, has been as poisonous for his country as Bashir has been for Sudan. Mugabe's government demonizes racial and ethnic minorities, and his economic policies have forced the breadbasket of southern Africa to face famine. [57] But, as the international community has isolated Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, Tehran has reached out to fill the gap. Iranian politicians may speak of their commitment to social justice, but their crass indifference to social issues and public health and well-being are on display as they work to transform Africa's most brutal dictatorship into a pillar of Iranian influence in Africa. Mottaki initiated outreach to Zimbabwe on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in 2006. [58] The two countries pledged uniformity of policy. [59] At a Tehran press conference in November of that year, Mugabe said, "Iran and Zimbabwe think alike and have been described [as belonging to] the 'Axis of Evil.' . . . Those countries that think alike should come together." [60] In subsequent days, the two countries signed deals to boost energy cooperation, restart Zimbabwe's defunct oil refinery, and underwrite agricultural policies that have left the southern African nation on the brink of famine. [61] The Iranian Ambassador in Harare pledged to help Mugabe repel sanctions.[62]

South Africa has become another Iranian regional ally. Grateful for the Islamic Republic's opposition to apartheid, the two countries formally reestablished relations in 1994. While subsequent bilateral rhetoric was always warm, in recent years, Tehran has used oil and trade to develop its ties with Pretoria. The Iranian strategy is deliberate. "South Africa is a key member of the Non-Aligned Movement, a bloc of developing countries that has resisted the efforts to force Tehran to halt uranium enrichment," explained a commentary in Iran's official English-language newspaper. [63]

Having failed to get Venezuela onto the UN Security Council, the Iranian government has been anxious to exploit South Africa's rotating membership and its presence on the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors. [64] In February 2007, for example, Ali Larijani, then the nuclear negotiator for Iran, traveled to South Africa to meet with President Thabo Mbeki. [65] The strategy has paid dividends. Despite the February, 2008, IAEA report that found that the Islamic Republic continued to enrich uranium in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement and two UN Security Council resolutions, [66] the South African government has used its rotating membership on the UN Security Council to advocate against any further sanctions. [67]

Iranian officials have been just as energetic in cultivating smaller African states. In September, 2007, Interim Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari pledged cooperation to exploit Uganda's newfound oil field, [68] and, two months later, the Export Development Bank of Iran pledged $1 million to underwrite microfinance in Uganda. [69] In November, Mottaki also announced an initiative to expand relations with Malawi [70] after that country's President endorsed Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology. [71] The same month, Mottaki welcomed the Côte d'Ivoire Foreign Minister to Tehran [72] -- again, after the West African nation's Ambassador threw his country's support behind Iran in the dispute with the UN Security Council over Iran's nuclear program. [73] Indeed, while the Iranian government spreads millions of dollars around Africa, its aid appears conditional upon support. In recent weeks, the Iranian government has used declarations by the leaders of Lesotho, Mauritania, Mali, and Namibia to bolster support for its nuclear program. [74]

CONCLUSION

Absent a diplomatic solution or the prospect of a viable military option, many in Washington embrace containment and deterrence as plan B. For example, General John Abizaid, Commander of U.S. Central Command until March 2007, said, "I believe we have the power to deter Iran, should it become nuclear. . . . There are ways to live with a nuclear Iran." [76] Containing Iran, however, is easier said than done.

Throughout his administration's second term, Bush has struggled to convince regional allies that his commitments to them are solid. As a result, regional U.S. allies like Egypt, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, and Turkey now seek separate accommodation with Iran.

But even as dozens of diplomats, intelligence analysts, and military officers focus on how to counter Iranian strategy in the region and enhance U.S. public diplomacy, the Iranian challenge has grown far broader. The United States has a compartmentalized strategy; Iran has a global strategy that Washington has been unable to counter: for every three trips Ahmadinejad takes to Latin America, Bush takes one.

The chances for longterm Iranian success may be doubtful -- Latin American and African countries may welcome Iranian aid and take advantage of Tehran's soft power with the same enthusiasm with which they sometimes divert U.S. Agency for International Development and World Bank assistance, but any ideological solidarity will be far more limited to each country's immediate leadership. Still, Ahmadinejad's outreach to Latin America and Africa can do damage. The Islamic Republic is not an altruistic power. Its aid is conditional, and sometimes these conditions run counter to U.S. interests. At the very least, Tehran's newfound allies in Latin America and Africa provide needed diplomatic solace and enable Iranian authorities to launder dual use goods and, in theory, outsource suspect weapons research. More worrisome, the Islamic Republic might use its new havens to destabilize neighboring states -- indeed, Tehran may be cooperating with Caracas to undermine Álvaro Uribe's administration in Colombia -- or as launching pads for terrorism against U.S. interests. The Pentagon may have strengthened its facilities in the Persian Gulf, but Iran and its proxies may find U.S. interests in places like Cancun and the Caribbean more vulnerable. Just as, in 1972, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine outsourced a terrorist attack on Israel's main airport to the Japanese Red Army, IRGC planners may find their African and Latin American allies compliant in their desire to lash out at U.S. interests, especially if cooperation comes with further financial reward. The 1994 Buenos Aires bombing already demonstrates Tehran's willingness to attack soft targets half a world away.

If the Bush administration and its successor continue to ignore Iran's growing global ambitions and do not implement a strategy to reverse Ahmadinejad's recent gains, Washington may find that Iran, not the United States, holds the upper hand in a high-stakes game of deterrence.

NOTES:

2. See, for example, Todd Lewan, "Hunt for Islamic Terrorists Leads to Border Region," Associated Press, September 19, 1994.

3. "Iran Charged over Argentina Bomb," BBC News, October 25, 2006, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6085768.stm (accessed March 10, 2008).

4. See, for example, Matthew Levitt, "Hezbollah Finances: Funding the Party of God," in Terrorism Financing and State Responses: A Comparative Perspective, ed. Jeanne Giraldo and Harold Trinkunas, 134-51 (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007).

5. "Chávez Decorated in Iran; Initials Cooperation Pacts," ElUniversal.com (Caracas), July 31, 2006.

6. Anita Snow, "U.S. Foes Meet at Nonaligned Summit," Associated Press, September 15, 2006.

7. "Iranian Supreme Leader Receives Venezuelan President," Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) (Tehran), July 1, 2007. 8. Kayhan International (Tehran), July 2, 2007.

9. Parisa Hafezi, "Iran, Venezuela in 'Axis of Unity' against U.S.," Reuters, July 2, 2007.

10. "Ahmadinejad Due in Bolivia, Venezuela," IRNA, September 26, 2007.

11. "Ahmadinejad Cements Ties with Chávez," chinadaily. com.cn, September 29, 2007.

12. "Rais-e jomhour dar mosahebeh-ye matbou'ati-ye moshtarek ba Chavez: Dowlat-e Mellat-e Iran va Venezuela ala-raghm-e meil-e estrtekbar-e jahani, dar kenar-e mellat-ha-ye mahroum khahad istad," Iranian Student News Agency (Tehran), November 19, 2007.

13. See, for example, United Nations (UN) Security Council, Resolution 1737 (2006), December 23, 2006, available at http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/681/42/PDF/N0668142.pdf?OpenElement (accessed March 13, 2008); and UN Security Council, Resolution 1747 (2007), March 24, 2007, available at http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/5891176.html (accessed March 13, 2008).

14. "Tahvil-e havapayma-ye jadid airbus az keshvar Venezuela beh havapaymale-e jomhuri eslame iran," Fars News Agency (Tehran), July 1, 2007.

15. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, "Approval of License Request for Civilian Aircraft Spare Parts to Iran Air," U.S. Department of State, October 10, 2006, available at www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/73811.htm (accessed March 12, 2008).

16. "Iran, Venezuela to Start Direct Flights," Fars News Agency, February 10, 2007; and "First Tehran-Caracas Plane Lands in Damascus," IRNA, March 2, 2007.

17. "Chávez Hails IRI Achievements," Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (Tehran), June 24, 2007.

18. Rafael Noboa, "Chávez, Ahmadinejad Solidify Iran-Venezuela Ties," Agence France-Presse, September 18, 2006.

19. "Gerayesh-e dast-e jam'i-ye be eslam dar barkhi qaba'el Amrika-ye latin," Raja News (Tehran), November 4, 2007; and "Hemayat-e gostardeh Chavez va Castro az moballeghan-e eslami dar Amrika-ye Latin," Rasa News (Tehran), December 7, 2007.

20. Juan Forero and Steve Inskeep, "Chávez Nationalizes Venezuelan Oil Fields," Morning Edition, National Public Radio, May 1, 2007.

21. "Iran, Venezuela to Invest $4 bln in Joint Oil Project," Fars News Agency, July 12, 2007.

22. "FM: Iran, Venezuela to Increase Financial Ties up to USD 18bn," IRNA, April 20, 2007.

23. "Iran, Latin Countries Launch Joint Shipping Line," Fars News Agency, November 5, 2007.

24. "Safir-e Venezuela dar Tehran: Az ehtemal hamkari-ye hastehi-ye Iran va Venezuela bi khabaram," Aftab-e Yazd (Yazd), November 15, 2007.

25. Natalie Obiko Pearson, "Iran and Venezuela Plan Anti-U.S. Fund," USA Today, January 14, 2007.

26. "Ortega Symbol of Nicaragua's Justice-Seeking," Fars News Agency, January 15, 2007.

27. Ibid.

28. Andres Oppenheimer, "Beware Iran in Latin America," Miami Herald, September 30, 2007.

29. "Nicaraguan President to Visit Iran," Fars News Agency, June 4, 2007.

30. "Iran, Nicaragua Stress Solidarity," Fars News Agency, June 10, 2007.

31. "Iran Slams U.S. as It Hails Nicaragua's Ortega," Fars News Agency, June 11, 2007.

32. "Nicaragua Signs Accords with Iran," Fars News Agency, August 5, 2007.

33. "Iran Deepens Ties with Nicaragua," Fars News Agency, August 6, 2007; and "Iran, Nicaragua Strike Trade Deal," Fars News Agency, August 12, 2007.

34. "Nicaragua Building Ties with Iran," Fars News Agency, August 15, 2007.

35. "Iran, Nicaragua Eye Energy Cooperation," Fars News Agency, February 10, 2008.

36. "Iran, Nicaragua Underline Cooperation among Free Nations," Fars News Agency, June 10, 2007.

37. "Iran Defends Nicaragua's Progress, Independence," Fars News Agency, June 11, 2007.

38. "Bolivia: Iran to Invest in 25 Industrial Projects," Fars News Agency, October 9, 2007; and Andres Oppenheimer, "Beware Iran in Latin America."

39. "Bolivia Calls on World to Support Iran's N. Rights," Fars News Agency, September 4, 2007.

40. "Ijad safarkhaneh-ye Iran dar La Paz," Tabnak (Tehran), January 1, 2008.

41. "Iran and Nicaragua to Expand Media Cooperation," Tehran Times (Iran), December 18, 2007; and "Iran to Open TV Station in Bolivia," Associated Press, February 19, 2008.

42. U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, "Ros-Lehtinen Continues to Raise Concerns over Iran-Venezuela Ties," news release, March 4, 2008.

43. "FM: 2008 a Milestone in Iran-Africa Ties," Fars News Agency, January 30, 2008.

44. "Tehran to Host Iran-Africa Summit," Press TV (Tehran), February 1, 2008.

45. "Communiqué conjoint de la visite officielle de Son Excellence Me Abdoulaye Wade, président de la République du Sénégal en République Islamique d'Iran," Le Soleil (Dakar), June 29, 2006.

46. "Maqam mo'azzam-e rahabari zaban-e Amrika va Abargodrat-ha ra zaban-e tahdid va er'ab danestand," IRNA, February 28, 2008.

47. "Senegalese DM Meets Iranian Counterpart," Fars News Agency, January 28, 2008.

48. "Senegal Stresses Expansion of Ties with Iran," Fars News Agency, July 29, 2007.

49. "President Leaves for Senegal," Fars News Agency, March 12, 2008.

50. "Énergie, Prospection Pétrolière, Industrie: Le Sénégal bénéficie des solutions iraniennes," Le Soleil, June 28, 2006.

51. "Iran to Build Oil Refinery, Chemical Plant in Senegal," Fars News Agency, August 4, 2007.

52. "Iran to Supply Crude Oil to Senegal," Fars News Agency, August 28, 2007.

53. "Senegalese President: Nuclear Technology Is Iran's Legitimate Right," IRNA, November 25, 2007.

54. "Ahmadinejad to Leave for Sudan," Fars News Agency, February 27, 2007.

55. "Ahmadinejad: Iran, Sudan Defend Each Other at Int'l Bodies," Fars News Agency, March 2, 2007.

56. "Sudan, noqteh-ye ateka-ye rivabat-e Iran va Africa ast," Aftab-e Yazd, March 7, 2008.

57. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, "Zimbabwe," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices--2006, March 6, 2007, available at www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78765.htm (accessed March 12, 2008).

58. "Iran, Zimbabwe Voice Enthusiasm for Deepening Ties," Fars News Agency, September 22, 2006.

59. "FM Stresses Iran, Zimbabwe Joint Stances," Fars News Agency, November 19, 2006.

60. "Iran, Zimbabwe Vow to Resist U.S. Dominance," Fars News Agency, November 21, 2006.

61. "Zimbabwean Agriculture Equipped with Iranian Technology," Fars News Agency, November 23, 2006; "Iran to Launch Zimbabwe's Oil Refinery," Fars News Agency, November 25, 2006; and "Zim Strikes Oil Deal," Reuters, December 17, 2007.

62. "Iran to Help Zimbabwe Beat off Sanctions," Fars News Agency, February 12, 2008.

63. "Pretoria's Pro-Iran Stance Can Boost Progress in Global South," Tehran Times, February 7, 2008.

64. "SA Commends Iran's Stance on Nuclear Program," IRNA, September 14, 2007.

65. "Iranian Atomic Negotiator to Hold Talks with South Africa's Mbeki," International Herald Tribune, February 25, 2007.

66. International Atomic Energy Agency, "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions 1737 (2006) and 1747 (2007) in the Islamic Republic of Iran," report by the director general, February 22, 2008, available at www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2008/gov2008-4.pdf (accessed March 13, 2008).

67. "Security Council Edges towards Adoption of Iran Sanctions," Citizen (Johannesburg), February 29, 2008; and "UN Iran Resolution Disregarded IAEA--S. Africa," Reuters, March 6, 2008.

68. "Iran, Uganda to Expand Energy Ties," Press TV, September 4, 2007.

69. "Uganda: Front Page Microfinance to Get Iran Funding," Fars News Agency, December 25, 2007.

70. "Mottaki amadagi Iran ra baraye tawsa'eh-ye rivabat-i hameh-ye janibeh ba Malawi 'alam kard," Mehr News Agency (Tehran), November 9, 2007.

71. "Malawi Stresses Iran's Right to Own Hi-Tech," Fars News Agency, November 9, 2007.

72. "Ivory Coast FM to Arrive in Tehran Tonight," Fars News Agency, November 25, 2007.

73. "Ivory Coast Blasts West for Opposing N. Iran," Fars News Agency, April 24, 2007; and "Ivory Coast: UNSC Resolutions Not Always Acceptable," Fars News Agency, May 8, 2007.

74. "African Leaders Support Iran's N. Program," Fars News Agency, February 2, 2008.

75. Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Intelligence Council, "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities," National Intelligence Estimate, November 2007, available at www.dni.gov/press_releases/20071203_release.pdf (accessed March 10, 2008).

76. Robert Burns, "Abizaid: World Could Abide Nuclear Iran," Associated Press, September 17, 2007.

Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist ideology, is Editor of the Middle East Quarterly, a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson, of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs.

Dr. Rubin thanks AEI colleagues Ali Alfoneh, Megan Davy, Mauro De Lorenzo, and Mark Falcoff for their help and advice. AEI Editorial Assistant Christy Hall Robinson worked with Mr. Rubin to edit and produce the March 17, 2008, issue of the AEI Middle Eastern Outlook.

The foregoing issue of the AEI Middle Eastern Outlook can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam, working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat. (Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1873)

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