Turkey-Iran Relations: Pragmatic Economics & the Ideological Ceiling to Strategic Relations, illuminates the current status of the relationship between Turkey and Iran and explains why this state-to-state relationship has been mired in centuries of ideological, theological and geopolitical friction. At times, Turkey has been reluctant to define Iran as a security risk despite its nuclear program. At other times, Iran and Turkey have quite openly jockeyed for influence, particularly during what came to be known as the Arab Spring. Thus, despite pragmatic cooperation, these unlikely friends find themselves facing an impasse. Offering insights that are grounded in historical conflicts, which have hardened into ideological differences, this paper reveals how contemporary Turkey and Iran have sought to expand their diametrically different models of governance beyond their contiguous borders. This relationship may shift dramatically as a result of the resolution of Iran’s nuclear situation, and this shift may drive the countries back into wave after wave of ideological andgeopolitical strife that will likely have implications for much of the world, including NATO, Israel, the United States and the European Community.