What are Iranian people to do? The first prime minister of the Islamic Republic (Bazargan) became known as a Westoxified liberal and was forced to resign; their first president (Bani-Sadr), who assumed office with the highest recommendation from Khomeini himself, has been rebranded as a Mojahedin-e Khalgh spy; the Prime Minister who led the country ... Continue reading »

Daryaee, Touraj (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History, Oxford Univ. Press, 2012.   After an introductory chapter by the book’s editor, the material on Iranian history is presented in 16 chapters by various authors. These chapters are followed by a chronological list of ruling dynasties in Iran and an extensive index.   01. The Iranian ... Continue reading »

The Oscar-winning film “Argo” has generated a great deal of negative reviews. The most benign criticisms are those from film critics who question the embellishment of facts for entertainment. For example, they point out that the CIA had only a minor role in the escape plans and the airport interrogation and the final chase scene on the runway never ... Continue reading »

Gabbay, Tom, The Tehran Conviction, William Morrow, 2009 (ISBN 978-0-06-118845-9).   The author’s third book featuring Jack Teller (reminiscent of Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy’s early spy thrillers), a recruit to the newly formed CIA, is quite riveting. The two volumes preceding this “Novel of Suspense” (as announced on the cover), The Lisbon Crossing ... Continue reading »

Overzealous prosecutors should be held accountable for Aaron Swartz’s death. Yes, Aaron Swartz was depressed and might have eventually killed himself for other reasons, but there seems to be widespread agreement that overzealous prosecutors, who pursued him for the sin of downloading millions of scholarly articles at MIT (even though there was no e ... Continue reading »

  Bergman, Ronen (translated from Hebrew by Ronnie Hope), The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Power, Free Press, 2008 (ISBN 978-1-4165-5839-2)   This book is an Israeli investigative journalist’s account of how intelligence services of Western countries and Israel operated in con ... Continue reading »