It is a human story, a chronicle of family and friendships torn apart by a terror-mongering regime, and how the adult choices of three childhood mates during the Islamic Republic yielded divisive and tragic fates. And it is the stunningly courageous account of one man’s decades-long commitment to lead a shocking double life informing on the beloved country of his birth, a place that once offered the promise of freedom and enlightenment—but instead ruled by murderous violence and spirit-crushing oppression.Reza Kahlili grew up in Tehran surrounded by his close-knit family and two spirited boyhood friends. The Iran of his youth allowed Reza to think and act freely, and even indulge a penchant for rebellious pranks in the face of the local mullahs. His political and personal freedoms flourished while he studied computer science at the University of Southern California in the 1970s. But his carefree time in America was cut short with the sudden death of his father, and Reza returned home to find a country on the cusp of change. The revolution of 1979 plunged Iran into a dark age of religious fundamentalism under the Ayatollah Khomeini, and Reza, clinging to the hope of a Persian Renaissance, joined the Revolutionary Guards, an elite force at the beck and call of the Ayatollah. But as Khomeini’s tyrannies unfolded, as his fellow countrymen turned on each other, and after the horror he witnessed inside Evin Prison, a shattered and disillusioned Reza returned to America to dangerously become “Wally,” a spy for the CIA.In the wake of an Iranian election that sparked global outrage, at a time when Iran’s nuclear program holds the world’s anxious attention, the revelations inside A Time to Betray could not be more powerful or timely. Now resigned from his secretive life to reclaim precious time with his loved ones, Reza Kahlili documents scenes from history with heart-wrenching clarity, as he supplies vital information from the Iran-Iraq War, the Marine barracks bombings in Beirut, the catastrophes of Pan Am Flight 103, the scandal of the Iran-Contra affair, and more . . . a chain of incredible events that culminates in a nation’s fight for freedom that continues to this very day. A TIME TO BETRAY was the winner of The National Best Books 2010 Awards for Non-Fiction Narrative. It was also honored as the “Finalist” in the “Autobiography/Memoirs” category. It is now part of JCITA’s (Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy of DOD) Iranian Program’s readings.

    What’s keeping his memory from being obliterated is not the law. It is the grit and guts of his mother, who refuses to surrender her son to fate, and the tenacity of his brother, a blogger, who fuses tradition and technology to explore and explode the void in which Mehdi has vanished. Zahra’s Paradise weaves together fiction and real people and events. As the world witnessed the aftermath of Iran’s fraudulent elections, through YouTube videos, on Twitter, and in blogs, this story came into being. The global response to this gripping tale has been passionate—an echo of the global outcry during the political upheaval of the summer of 2009.   Zahra’s Paradise is a first on the internet, a first for graphic novels, and a first in the history of political dissidence. Zahra’s Paradise is being serialized online at zahrasparadise.com.   Zahra’s Paradise is a Publishers Weekly Best Comics title for 2011.

    Saved by a group of local Kurds, he returned to Iran where he became a national hero. A movie, called Eagles, based on his rescue, was made in Iran in 1984. Sharifirad’s story was also published in Iran in a book called Crash on the Fortieth Mission. Shortly after his return to Iran, the Ayatollah sent him to Pakistan as military attaché. When he returned toTeheran, he was accused of being a CIA spy and was imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured. Sharifirad served a prison term and upon his release, despite constant surveillance, managed to smuggle his family out of the country. Eventually, he too managed a harrowing escape from Iran via Turkey to Canada, where he now lives with his family in Vancouver.The book also provides an absorbing historical and cultural backdrop to Iran.

    With my eyes hurting from the strange light and anger in my voice, I assured him that I would. Suddenly I was pushed through the gate and the door was slammed behind me. After more than eight years, here I was, finally, out of jail . . . ."In this haunting account, Shahla Talebi remembers her years as a political prisoner in Iran. Talebi, along with her husband, was imprisoned for nearly a decade and tortured, first under the Shah and later by the Islamic Republic. Writing about her own suffering and survival and sharing the stories of her fellow inmates, she details the painful reality of prison life and offers an intimate look at a critical period of social and political transformation in Iran.Somehow through it all—through resistance and resolute hope, passion and creativity—Talebi shows how one survives. Reflecting now on experiences past, she stays true to her memories, honoring the love of her husband and friends lost in these events, to relate how people can hold to moments of love, resilience, and friendship over the dark forces of torture, violence, and hatred.At once deeply personal yet clearly political, part memoir and part meditation, this work brings to heartbreaking clarity how deeply rooted torture and violence can be in our society. More than a passing judgment of guilt on a monolithic "Islamic State," Talebi's writing asks us to reconsider our own responses to both contemporary debates of interrogation techniques and government responsibility and, more simply, to basic acts of cruelty in daily life. She offers a lasting call to us all."The art of living in prison becomes possible through imagining life in the very presence of death and observing death in the very existence of life. It is living life so vitally and so fully that you are willing, if necessary, to let that very life go, as one would shed chains on the legs. It is embracing, and flying on the wings of death as though it is the bird of freedom."

    Middle East Studies. These haunting stories beautifully evoke the oppressive lives of modern women in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Anis, a computer programmer, is at the end of her rope, putting up with the bullying criticism of a no-good, unemployed lout of a husband; Azar is a young divorcee, and the only person she can talk to is Reza; but she can see him only late at night when "they" are not around; Sharmin has Down's syndrome and hopelessly loves Azad; he loves Kazhal, beautiful and blessed; but Kazhal is married off and is divorced at twenty and now awaits a hopeless future.... For these and other characters the weight of traditional attitudes, the harassment of the religious establishment, and the attitudes of men make for a frustrating, confining, and sometimes unlivable existence.

    After losing his job at a rural ostrich farm, Karim (Naji) takes his motorcycle into the city of Tehran. A case of mistaken identity leads the out-of-work family man to start earning money as a motorcycle taxi driver, but his wife and daughters dislike the man the city has turned him into. THE SONG OF SPARROWS features nonprofessional actors, lending a sense of authenticity to the beautifully shot proceedings. (studio)

    While jailed in Tehran's most-feared prison, where she's held for her father's antiregime sentiments, Leila tells her story in flashback. She describes her childhood days in Tehran and shares her experiences as a college student in the United States, where she falls in love with Jack, only to see their relationship torn asunder by the strong influence of their disparate religions. Ultimately, hope triumphs in the face of fanaticism and intolerance.

    But behind those headlines—and the fierce rhetoric of Iran’s most hard-line leaders—is a proud nation with a 2,500-year history of Persian poetry, art, and passion. Based on more than thirty extended reporting trips to Iran, including the turbulent aftermath of the disputed June 2009 election, Scott Peterson’s portrait is the definitive guide to this enigmatic nation, from the roots of its incendiary internal struggles to the rise and slide of Iran’s earthshaking 1979 Islamic Revolution. This prize-winning American journalist with unparalleled experience in Iran takes us there, inside a country where an educated and young population is restlessly eager to take its place in the world; where martyrs of the "sacred" Iran-Iraq War are still mourned with tears of devotion; where the cultural and religious forces of light and darkness are locked in battle. Peterson brings stunningly alive the diversity within Iran—from the hard-liners who shout "Death to America" to the majority who comprise the most pro-American population in the Middle East. Let the Swords Encircle Me gives voice to Iranians themselves—the clerics and the reformers, the filmmakers and the journalists, the True Believers and their Westernized and profane brethren—to understand the complexities of Iran today. Through dedicated and in-depth reporting, Peterson shows how every word, image, and sensibility in Iran is often deliciously unexpected and counterintuitive. Ideology matters. So does "resistance." And azadi: freedom. Peterson deftly holds a mirror up to both sides of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Americans and Iranians, he writes, share a belief in their own exceptionalism and "manifest destiny" (which for Iran includes its nuclear ambitions) and frequent need of an "enemy" in political discourse. The same elements that have locked the United States and Iran in the most vicious of struggles—stretching back to the 1953 CIA coup in Tehran and the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage saga—are the same ones that could one day make Iran and the United States the most "natural" allies in the region.In this critical and personal account, Peterson illumines the latest episodes of Iran’s century-old quest for democracy and freedom. He explains how the Islamic Revolution—launched as a beacon of justice and resistance for Iranians and all the world’s Muslims—has not lived up to its ambitious promise. He shows how the violence of 2009 damaged the regime’s legitimacy and marks the start of an irreversible decline.Let the Swords Encircle Me takes us into the minds and hearts of Iranians today, and will be a crucial guide as Americans and Iranians attempt to overcome their bitter estrangement.

    A new title in a successful series, Iranian Textiles presents more than 200 examples produced during the first half of the 19th century, with close-up photographs that reveal the unique woven, printed, and embroidered designs.

    This volume contains his most prominent novel "bufe kur" (the blind owl) published for the first time in its original (non-censored) version. The volume furthermore includes the original handwritten manuscript (facsimile) of the novel as well as a collection of critics by prominent international writers. The volume closes with the so called "poetics of bufe kur." Sadegh Hedayat was born on 17 February 1903 in Tehran, at his father's house. His father was Hedayat Gholi Khan-e Hedayat(E'tezad-Ol-Molk), son of Jafar GholiKhan-e Hedayat, his mother was, Ozra-Zivar-Ol-Moluk Hedayat, daughter of Hossein GholiKhan-e Mokhber-ol-Dole the second. His parent was from the line of Reza GholiKhan; who was one of the famous Iranian writers, poets and historians in 13th century; that was Kamal Khojandi descents. He went to Elmieh Primary school, Tehran in 1909, and after completing his basic education and then started his high school at Darolfonun in 1914. Because of eye trouble, there was a break in his education in 1914, but he continued his education in Saint Louis School at Tehran, where he got familiar with French language and literature in 1917. He completed his secondary education and was sent with the other Iranian students to Belgium for higher education in 1925. At first, he studied in "Gand" Port University, but he declared his dissatisfaction, because of bad weather and his education situation, so he was transferred to Paris to continue his studies. In1928, Sadegh Hedayat, attempted to his first suicide by throwing himself into Marne River in Samoi, but he was rescued by the people in a boat. Finally, in 1930, he returned back to Tehran and in that year he was hired in Bank Melli Iran. In those days "Rabe Group" was formed including Bozorg Alavi, Massud Farzad, Mojtaba Minavi and Sadegh Hedayat.In 1932, he traveled to Isfahan and also started his work at General Department of Commerce. In 1933, he traveled to Shiraz and stayed in his uncle's house (Dr.Kraim Hedayat) for awhile. In 1934, he resigned from General Department of Commerce and commenced his work at Ministry Of Foreign Affairs; he resigned from Ministry Of Foreign Affairs in 1935, and in that year he was summoned by Police Investigation Department and interrogated for the context of the book "Mister Bow Wow." In 1936, he commenced working at General Department of Construction and traveled to India, he started learning "Pahlavi Language" with an Indian researcher and professor; Bahram Goor Anklesaria. In 1937, he returned back to Tehran, started working in Bank Melli Iran again, he resigned from there again in 1938, and started working at State Music Department and also cooperating with "Music Magazine." In 1940 he commenced his work at Fine Art Faculty of Tehran University as translator, and cooperating with "Sokhan Magazine" in 1943.He went to Tashkent by the invitation of The State University of Middle Asia in Uzbekistan in 1945, and also cooperated with "Payam e Now Magazine." In that year a ceremony for honoring Sadegh Hedayat was held in Iran and Soviet Union Cultural Society, in 1949.He was invited to participate in The World Congress of Peace but he could not attend because of his administrative problems. In 1950, he went to Paris and on April 8 1951, in that city, he committed suicide by gaz.He was 48 years old when got himself free from life pains, his grave was in Pere-la Chaise Cemetery in Paris. He spent all his life in his father's house."

    To help readers understand both the what and the why of Iran's role in the world and formulate useful responses to that role, the author provides a detailed analysis of Iranian foreign policy in all its dimensions.The first part of the book places Iranian actions, particularly its relations with the United States and other key players, within the context of the emerging international system, while also showing how domestic developments impact foreign policy. The second part surveys Iranian relations with specific actors, notably the United States and Russia, and with key regions, including Europe, Central Asia, the Arab world, Latin America, and Africa. Providing an antidote to existing preconceptions, this incisive analysis lays an analytically sound basis for shaping policies toward Iran--policies with potentially high payoff in terms of regional security and stability.

    With over 5,700 entries, this reference provides a sound and solid base of terminology of arms and armor in Persian so that military historians, historians, museum curators, researchers, collectors, and those interested in reading historical accounts and epic stories may understand and use the appropriate terms related to each certain type of weapon.

    Four decades after her tragic death at the age of 32, Forugh Farrokhzad, Poet of Modern Iran brings her ground-breaking work into new focus. During her lifetime Farrokhzad embodied the vexed predicament of the contemporary Iranian woman, at once subjected to long-held traditional practices and influenced by newly introduced modern social sensibilities. Highlighting her literary and cinematic innovation, this volume examines the unique place Farrokhzad occupies in Iran, both among modern Persian poets in general and as an Iranian woman writer in particular. The authors also explore Farrokhzad's appeal outside Iran in the Iranian diasporic imagination and through the numerous translations of her poetry into English. It is a fitting and authoritative tribute to the work of a remarkable woman which will introduce and explain her legacy for a 21st-century audience.

    Geography and history place Iran at the centre of these worlds. But to what extent can we speak of an ‘Iranian model’ that these groups follow?This meticulously researched volume presents the Shi‘a worlds in all their complexities, exploring the tenuous relations between these groups and Iran while shedding light on the understudied Shi‘a communities in the Gulf, Turkey, Afghanistan and Senegal.Sabrina Mervin is a senior researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the co-director of the IISMM (Institut d'études de l'Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman). She is a historian in Islam and contemporary Shi‘ism.

    It starts in 1925 after Reza Pahlavi seized control of the country, but it arcs back to Ancient and Medieval Persia. Not that the government was rejecting modernity. IT instead promoted a reconstruction of the past that would aid efforts to make modern Iran an independent nation with an irrefutable claim to existence and power. Prodigious archival research informs Grigor's account of the excavations and discoveries Iranian authorities used to construct monuments to national heroes like Omar Khayyam, an important mathematician and astronomer of the 11th century as well as the author of the 'Rubauyat'. Grigor also brings immense knowledge to her lively discussions of the modern idiom integrated into such retrospective monuments and buildings. This book is the first in English to study 20th century Iranian architecture within the historical contexts that shaped its from and significance. The corpus of photographs will help the many readers unfamiliar with the architectural riches of Iran. Current turbulence and misunderstanding with the Middle East highlight the important of Grigor's book.

    With a mastery of the Persian language and intimacy with the culture, Wendy Coyle provides a rare glimpse into the subtle and mysterious country that is Iridescent Iran.Ruth Stone, Pulitzer Prize finalist, National Book Award recipient and poet laureate of Vermont on Iridescent Iran:“In 1965 Wendy Coyle, a sheltered and newly wed American girl, followed her husband back to his feudal estate in eastern Iran. Her memoir takes us into the private lives of his traditional family and offers a luminous and timely account of Iranian life in the years leading up to the revolution of 1979. Touching and delicate, earthy and bawdy, we see, feel, smell and taste this world as she becomes intimately acquainted with the hidden chambers of one of the world’s oldest cultures. The richness of her language takes you into the experience.”

    Elgood's prefatory chapter defines the scope of the History, and informs the reader of his extensive resources - due to his knowledge of Persian and Arabic, he was able to study original manuscripts of medical historians in the Middle East. He also draws upon his own experiences, having lived and practised in Iran for many years. Packed with medical curiosities and little-known facts, the book describes the impact of Western medicine on Persia from the seventeenth century, and includes discussion of the status and lifestyle of women, and the high status and great influence of Persian doctors. Placing the story of medicine against the background of general Persian history, Elgood demonstrates the important part played by Persia in the world's history of medicine.