The start of Hassan Rouhani's presidency in Iran raised hopes and expectations anew after Mahmood Ahmadinejad's presidency, marked by Iran's growing confrontation with the West. Rouhani's electoral campaign and his political messages afterwards constantly drew on the themes of “moderation”, “prudence” and “constructive engagement” in Iran's foreign policy conduct, pledging to eradicate the past mistakes of the outgoing administration. As a pragmatist tone with constant emphasis on “realism” and “prudence” gains preeminence in Iran, mending fences with the Gulf neighbors resurface on the political agenda, which is reminiscent of the growing moderation and pragmatism of Iran's foreign policy throughout the 1990s. However, Iran's old agenda faces new challenges with the crisis in the Levant looming large over the prospects of Iran's relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This chapter aims to discuss the implications of the ongoing turmoil in the Levant over Iran's pursuit of moderation and rapprochement with the Gulf countries. With the unsettling of state-society relations and regional politics through the “Arab Spring”, the Levant dimension has assumed greater significance in Iran-GCC relations, particularly for Iran-Saudi Arabia relations, granted the fact that the two powerhouses of the Persian Gulf are embroiled in increasing competition and deepening fault lines in Syria as the sponsors of diametrically opposed political groups.

In accounting for Iran-GCC relations through the prism of the crisis in Levant, this chapter will first provide a brief historical trajectory of Iran's relations with the GCC since the Iranian Revolution and assess the foundations of Iran's Persian Gulf policy and its evolution. It will draw upon the dynamics of confrontation and coexistence in Iran-GCC relations and elaborate on the implications of Iran's growing regional salience and nuclear standoff, particularly upon Iran-Saudi Arabia relations in the last decade. The second part of the paper will focus on the prospects of “constructive engagement” between Iran and the GCC under the presidency of Hassan Rouhani. It will articulate recent attempts by Iran to address regional challenges and build opportunities for cooperation which are motivated by a number of dynamics comprising Iran's quest for moderation, ongoing progress in nuclear talks, the growing political, economic and ideological costs of the Syrian turmoil and lastly the rising threat of extremism in the region with ISIS.