Iran Debates

A biography of Muhammad Musaddiq, who was prime minister of Iran between 1951 and 1953 until he was deposed in a CIA-backed coup d'etat and who has long been regarded as one of the great anti-colonial campaigners of the post-war era.

Buy: https://amzn.to/4hpnbzv

In recent years, Iran has gained attention primarily for negative reasons - its authoritarian religious government disputed its nuclear programme and controversial role in the Middle East - but there is much more to the story of this ancient land than can be gleaned from the news. This authoritative and comprehensive history of Iran, written by Homa Katouzian, an acclaimed expert, covers the entir...

Iran was the first country in the Middle East to experience (in 1905-6) a popular revolution that demanded the rule of law and parliamentary government. However, the democratic constitution established by the revolution plunged the country into a period of turmoil and, despite subsequent popular democratic movements, most notably in the early 1950s and during the Iranian revolution of 1978-9, the...

Sadeq Hedayat is the most famous and enigmatic Iranian writer of the 20th century. This book is the first comprehensive study of Hedayat's life and works set against literary and political developments in a rapidly changing Iran over the first half of the 20th century. Katouzian discusses Hedayat's life and times and the literary and political circles with which he was associated. But he a...

'In the breath that I die, for you, I'll be longing/ Wishing to turn into the dust of your belonging' - Sa'di, Expressions of Love. With poetry which speaks across the ages, Sa'di (1210-1281) is a vital classical poet and a towering figure of the medieval Persian canon. Comparable in skill and stature to other Persian poets such as Ferdowsi, Hafez, Rumi and Omar Khayyam, Sa&#39...

Following a two-pronged approach, this volume studies both those who the Constitutional Revolution influenced in their works and those who addressed the Revolution with their work, influencing it directly. Through analysing their works, this volume explores influential poets and writers from the period, including Iraj, Vaziri, Afrāshteh, Yazdi, Bahār and ‘Eshqi. It covers female poets who are ofte...

Humour in Iran  is a close and comprehensive study of satire and humour – in verse and prose – over the eleven hundred years since the emergence of classical Persian literature. Combining Persian original texts with their English translations, it covers a range of texts and authors, from the lampoon in Ferdowsi's great epic of the ancient kings in the tenth century through such master satirist...

This unique book is the first publication on the art of teaching Persian literature in English, consisting of 18 chapters by prominent early-career, mid-career and established scholars who generously share their experiences and methodologies in teaching classical and modern Persian literature across various academic traditions worldwide. The volume is divided into three parts: the background to te...

Bahram Beyzaie is one of Iran's leading playwrights and auteur filmmakers. This book examines several of Beyzaie's films and plays and their preoccupation with the modalities and transformations of Iranian contemporary, historical and mythical identity from different perspectives. The chapters analyse Beyzaie's influential plays, such as Arash and So Dies Pahlevan Akbar, and his filmic magnum opus...

This study provides a comprehensive examination of the evolution of Islam as a ruling framework in postrevolutionary Iran up to the present day. Beginning with the position and structure of Iran's clerical establishment under the Islamic Republic, Kamrava delves into the jurisprudential debates that have shaped the country's political institutions and state policies. Kamrava draws on exten...

This book maps an emerging cycle of films made by Iranian diasporic women filmmakers and produced outside of Iran, focusing on five significant examples: Shirin Neshat’s  Women Without Men  (2009), Sepideh Farsi’s  Red Rose  (2014), Maryam Keshavarz’s  Circumstance  (2011), Ana Lily Amirpour’s  A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night  (2014) and Desiree Akhavan’s  Appropriate Behaviour  (2014). These fil...

Iran's prison system is a foundational institution of Iranian political modernity.  The Incarcerated Modern  traces Iran's transformation from a decentralized empire with few imprisoned persons at the turn of the twentieth century into a modern nation-state with over a quarter million prisoners today. In policing the line between "bad criminal" and "good citizen," the c...

This work unearths details and provides updated insights into an enduring puzzle of modern Iranian political history. It concludes that the Left's demise came from a combination of Iran's geopolitical setting and internal factors such as splits and factionalism.

"From Oxus to Euphrates: The World of Late Antique Iran" by Touraj Daryaee and Khodadad Rezakhani. The book aims to introduce the world of Late Antique Iran, focusing on the Sasanian Empire, and to challenge the Eurocentric approach to studying this period. The authors argue that the Sasanians were a significant force in the late antique world, shaping the region's political, economi...

This book provides an overview of the tumultuous relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, exploring the rivalry's impact on the Arab and Muslim world. It traces the origins of the conflict back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, revealing how both countries have sought to expand their influence through cultural and religious domination. The text analyses the rivalry's role in the rise o...

The book examines the history of modern-day Iran, beginning with the rule of Reza Shah, focusing mainly on the 1979 revolution, the subsequent Islamic Republic, and its relationship with the West. They explore the country’s internal political struggles, role in the Middle East, relationship with its neighbours, and complex history with the United States. The sources highlight how Iranian culture a...

Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Jail . The memoir recounts Rezaian's experience of being imprisoned by Iranian authorities for 544 days, which he describes as a period of interrogation, abuse, manipulation and shameless lying. Throughout his ordeal, Rezaian struggles to maintain his sanity and dignity, constantly working to ensure his release while remaining steadfast in his commitment to...

"Iran Without Borders"  by Hamid Dabashi is a comprehensive study that examines the multifaceted identity of Iran through the lens of its transnational history and cultural interactions. Dabashi argues that Iran’s postcolonial borders are artificial constructs that obscure its rich and complex history of cosmopolitanism, spanning centuries of imperial and colonial exchanges with the broa...

Armies of the Iran–Iraq War 1980–88 is an in-depth account of the military forces involved in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88). It details the structure, organisation, recruitment, training and equipment of the Iranian and Iraqi armies and their associated paramilitary forces. The text includes broad overviews of the armies and a more granular look at different military branches, including infantry, ar...

An Eye for Iran: The Photographs of Kazem Hakimi is a collection of black-and-white photographs by the eponymous artist, accompanied by an introduction by James Attlee. The book explores Iranian life through Hakimi's lens, focusing on everyday scenes and moments often captured in public spaces such as parks, squares, and markets. While seemingly unassuming, Hakimi's work subtly portrays Ir...

The book is about the experiences of Iranian-American artist Mahmood Karimi Hakak in Iran during the 1990s. They discuss the social and political climate of Iran during that time, focusing on the restrictions placed on individuals, especially women, under a religiously motivated government. The sources further examine Hakak's journey in Iran as he faced challenges and censorship while trying t...

The book is an in-depth account of the history and activities of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), a group dedicated to overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran. Through interviews with former and current members, the text documents the group's origins in the Iranian nationalist movement, its subsequent fight against the Shah, its persecution under the Islamic Republic, and its ongoi...

The provided text is an excerpt from the book “The Incarcerated Modern: Prisons and Public Life in Iran”, by Golnar Nikpour. The book examines the historical evolution of prisons in Iran from the Qajar era through the Islamic Republic. It explores how prisons have shaped Iran's social and political landscape, highlighting their connections to global trends of carcerality, nationalism, and stat...

"Counter-Memories in Iranian Cinema" explores the relationship between Iranian cinema and collective memory. The authors examine how Iranian filmmakers have used cinematic techniques to address social, political, and cultural issues, often challenging official narratives and reclaiming marginalized voices. The essays cover various topics, including the impact of the Iranian Revolution, t...