The Shah’s petro-diplomacy with Ceausescu: Iran and Romania in the era of Détente

In CWIHP Working Paper No. 74, authors Roham Alvandi and Eliza Gheorghe explore Iran's relations with Romania and the socialist bloc during the 1960s and 1970s. As the Persian Gulf became a Cold War battleground following the British withdrawal from the region, Iran's role as a major oil supplier took on increased significance. Using 16 newly declassified documents from the Romanian archives, the paper sheds new light on the external relations of Iran's Tudeh party, and the role of oil in Iranian diplomacy towards the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc.