Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States

Some relevant history (one hour; launches in Real Player). Parsi's been on Democracy Now, too.

From the C-SPAN Book TV page:

About the Program

Trita Parsi discusses the past and present relationship between the U.S., Iran and Israel. The talk was hosted by the World Affairs Council of Northern California.

About the Author

Trita Parsi is the co-founder and current president of the National Iranian American Council. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, the Nation, The Wall Street Journal, The American Conservative, the Jerusalem Post and other sources. For more, visit tritaparsi.com.

Here's the info from the Yale University Press website on this book:

Click here to listen to an interview with the author on the Yale Press Podcast.

Visit Trita Parsi's webpage featuring appearances, press events and interviews with the author.

Listen in on the author's recent appearance and interview on The Diane Rehm Show. Downloand this segment using Real Audio or Windows Media Player

Read The Economist, "Missed Chance? A Lost Opportunity Before Tehran's Necons Took Over"

In this era of superheated rhetoric and vitriolic exchanges between the leaders of Iran and Israel, the threat of nuclear violence looms. But the real roots of the enmity between the two nations mystify Washington policymakers, and no promising pathways to peace have emerged. This book traces the shifting relations among Israel, Iran, and the United States from 1948 to the present, uncovering for the first time the details of secret alliances, treacherous acts, and unsavory political maneuverings that have undermined Middle Eastern stability and disrupted U.S. foreign policy initiatives in the region.

Trita Parsi, a U.S. foreign policy expert with more than a decade of experience, is the only writer who has had access to senior American, Iranian, and Israeli decision makers. He dissects the complicated triangular relations of their countries, arguing that America’s hope for stability in Iraq and for peace in Israel is futile without a correct understanding of the Israeli-Iranian rivalry.

Parsi’s behind-the-scenes revelations about Middle East events will surprise even the most knowledgeable readers: Iran’s prime minister asks Israel to assassinate Khomeini, Israel reaches out to Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War, the United States foils Iran’s plan to withdraw support from Hamas and Hezbollah, and more. This book not only revises our understanding of the Middle East’s recent past, it also spells out a course for the future. In today’s belligerent world, few topics, if any, could be more important.

Trita Parsi is president, National Iranian American Council, and adjunct professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS. He writes frequently about the Middle East and has appeared on BBC World News, PBS News Hour, CNN, and other news programs. He lives in Washington, D.C.