The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East

From theÂ Wall Street JournalÂ reporter whoâ€™s been breaking news on the historic and potentially disastrous Iran nuclear deal comes a deeply reported exploration of the countryâ€™s decades-long power struggle with the United Statesâ€”for readers of Steve Collâ€™sÂ Ghost WarsÂ and Lawrence Wrightâ€™sÂ The Looming Tower

For more than a decade, the United States has been engaged in a war with Iran as momentous as any other in the Middle Eastâ€”a war all the more significant as it has largely been hidden from public view. Through a combination of economic sanctions, global diplomacy, and intelligence work, successive U.S. administrations have struggled to contain Iranâ€™s aspirations to become a nuclear power and dominate the regionâ€”what many view as the most serious threat to peace in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran has used regional instability to its advantage to undermine Americaâ€™s interests. The Iran Wars is an absorbing account of a battle waged on many levelsâ€”military, financial, and covert.

Jay Solomonâ€™s book is the product of extensive in-depth reporting and interviews with all the key players in the conflictâ€”from high-ranking Iranian officials to Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team. With a reporterâ€™s masterly investigative eye and the narrative dexterity of a great historian, Solomon shows how Iranâ€™s nuclear development went unnoticed for years by the international community only to become its top security concern. He catalogs the blunders of both the Bush and Obama administrations as they grappled with how to engage Iran, producing a series of both carrots and sticks. And he takes us inside the hotel suites where the 2015 nuclear agreement was negotiated, offering a frank assessment of the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran relationship.

This is a book rife with revelations, from the secret communications between the Obama administration and the Iranian government to dispatches from the front lines of the new field of financial warfare. For readers of Steve Collâ€™s Ghost Wars and Lawrence Wrightâ€™s The Looming Tower, The Iran Wars exposes the hidden history of a conflict most Americans donâ€™t even realize is being fought, but whose outcome could have far-reaching geopolitical implications.

Praise for The Iran Wars
Â
â€œThe use of the word â€˜wars,â€™ plural, in the title of this illuminating book tells the story: U.S.-Iranian relations have been troubled for many years. This deeply researched account of negotiations and their implications makes an important contribution to understanding the short- and long-term consequences of how we manage this difficult relationship.â€â€”George P. Shultz, former secretary of state

â€œAn illuminating, deeply reported account from one of the best journalists writing about the Middle East today. Jay Solomonâ€™s The Iran Wars offers a front-row view of the spy games, assassinations, political intrigue and high-stakes diplomacy that have defined relations with one of Americaâ€™s most cunning and dangerous foes.â€â€”Joby Warrick, Pulitzer Prizeâ€“winning author of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

â€œA thorough yet concise survey of Iranâ€™s buildup of nuclear technology since the 1980s, its troubling exporting of Shiite insurgency in countries around it, and the changing American reaction. Wall Street Journal chief foreign affairs correspondent [Jay] Solomon offers an evenhanded look at the backdoor schemes involving the building of Iranâ€™s nuclear weapons and the world players involved in and against its machinations.â€â€”Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

From the Hardcover edition.
Country USA
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2016-08-23
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2016-08-23
Format	Kindle eBook

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East

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