Walter Posch recently wrote a paper about Iranian foreign policy:
The Third World, Global Islam and Pragmatism. The Making of Iranian Foreign Policy, SWP Research Paper 2013/RP 03, April 2013, 31 Pages
walter.posch(at)swp-berlin.org

You can download the entire English translation at
http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2013_RP03_poc.pdf

The original German version is here
http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/studien/2013_S04_poc.pdf

Quote: The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the last nation states to deliberately position itself strategically and ideologically in opposition to the United States. The reasons for this lie in the history of Iran in the twentieth century and – in the view of the regime in Tehran – in the Islamic character and specifically Persian features of the country.

Thirty years after the Islamic revolution the Western world is still unsure what ideology the Islamic Republic of Iran espouses and hence which principles and goals guide its foreign policy. The spectrum of opinions ranges from mistrust of an Islamic regime and fear of religious fundamentalism to surprise at the pragmatism of Iranian foreign policy.
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