Successive electoral victories by Khatami and his political allies have raised expectations about the prospects for Iran's reform movement. But in a political system with myriad and overlapping centers of power, capturing the presidency and the parliament may not suffice. Deep policy differences among the various factions that constitute the " reform" movement, as well as the violent proclivities of its conservative " hard-line" adversaries, may frustrate efforts to bring about peaceful change to Iran's political system and even spur a violent backlash by opponents. Clearly, the success of the reform movement--and the evolution of a more benign Iran less out of tune with U.S. interests--is by no means assured. Who Rules Iran? analyzes the formal and informal power structures in the Islamic Republic and assesses both the future of the reform movement and the prospects for peaceful change in Iran. As U.S. policymakers begin their third decade of trying to avoid potential pitfalls and seize possible opportunities in formulating policy toward the Islamic Republic, this book will serve as an essential " guide to the perplexed."

    She is particularly renowned for her film installations, which have been featured at several Whitney Biennials--and this new catalogue accompanies Raptureand Fervor, the second and third films in a trilogy exploring the social, political and psychological dimensions of women's experience in contemporary Islamic societies. The emphasis here is on the interplay between the explicit text and the implicit subtext in Islamic ritual, and how the emotions stirred up by these rituals can take on mercurial and contradictory forms.

    The collection represents a variety of writings produced by the Jewish community of Iran—perhaps the oldest continuous Diaspora community in the world. Vera Basch Moreen has gathered texts written between the eighth and nineteenth centuries, including fragments of early documents, verse renditions of biblical books, prayers, religious poetry, secular poetry, commentaries, and historical chronicles. Most of the translations have been made by Moreen specifically for this anthology. Extensive notes accompany each selection to clarify its meaning in Jewish and Islamic history and legend.Judeo-Persian texts, written in classical Persian but using the Hebrew alphabet, reflect profound Muslim influences as well as the extent of original thought and expression among Jewish-Persian writers. This welcome anthology of their literature provides access to a deeper understanding of the Jewish Diaspora experience, the Persian literary tradition, and Jewish and Islamic history.