Looking at Iran’s Past to Understand Its Future

by Gareth Smyth Next month brings the fortieth anniversary of Iran’s 1979 revolution. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini flew back from exile in Paris on February 1, meeting such big crowds in Tehran that the 78-year-old cleric abandoned his station wagon for… Continue Reading

New Revelations of the US in Iran

by Ervand Abrahamian The State Department has finally released a much-awaited volume of internal documents from 1951 to 1954, the period during which Mohammad Mossadeq was prime minister of Iran. The department is obliged to publish 30-year-old documents in its annual… Continue Reading

Changing Iran: Q&A with Ervand Abrahamian

by Jasmin Ramsey Republican rejection of the Iranian nuclear deal dominated news headlines long before Congress received the 159-page document. Former presidential candidate John McCain—who derided President Obama’s willingness to engage Iran directly without preconditions during the 2008 election—was among… Continue Reading

Iran’s Coup, Then and Now

by Reyhaneh Noshiravani  via IPS New Ervand Abrahamian, a leading historian of modern Iran, has recently explored the 1953 Anglo/American-sponsored coup that overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq. The 28 months under Abrahamian’s scrutiny in The Coup: 1953, The CIA, and the… Continue Reading