Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but obstacles keep piling up. Leila’s younger brother Chia, influenced by their father’s past torture, imprisonment, and his deep-seated desire for justice, begins to engage with social and political affairs. But his activism grows increasingly risky and one day he disappears in Tehran. Seeking answers about her brother’s whereabouts, Leila fears the worst and begins a campaign to save him. But when she publishes Chia’s writings online, she finds herself in grave danger as well.Daughters of Smoke and Fire is an evocative portrait of the lives and stakes faced by 40 million stateless Kurds and a powerful story that brilliantly illuminates the meaning of identity and the complex bonds of family, perfect for fans of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.

    By admired historian, author of Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil ("he would do Graham Greene proud" --Kirkus Reviews).In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations of these two powers back to the eighteenth-century's Persian Empire, the subject of great admiration of Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams and for the Iranians, an America seen as an ideal to emulate for its own government.Drawing on years of archival research both in the US and Iran--including access to Iranian government archives rarely available to western scholars--the Iranian-born, Oxford-educated historian leads us through the four seasons of US-Iran relations: the 'spring' of mutual fascination; the 'summer' of early interactions; the 'autumn' of close strategic ties; and the long, dark 'winter' of mutual hatred.Ghazvinian, with grasp and a storyteller's ability, makes clear where, how, and when it all went wrong. And shows why two countries that once had such heartfelt admiration for each other became such committed enemies; showing us, as well, how it didn't have to turn out this way.

    However, as the 2009 election becomes contentious, political differences emerge and Sarah's conservative family tries to call off the wedding. Sarah and Ali, however, have fallen in love and, against the wishes of their parents, insist on going through with the marriage.Sarah's cousin, Sadegh, is a staunch supporter of the government and a member of the Baseej, the volunteer militia tasked with arresting protestors and shutting down speech against the regime. Meanwhile, Ali's sister, Azar, is an activist, a divorce attorney, and a passionate Green Wave supporter, trying to enact change in a way that many Iranians see as inflammatory. When Sarah impulsively shelters a protestor in their car on the drive home from her wedding, she sets off a chain of events that can either unmask the government's brutality or ruin them all.Sarah, Sadegh, and Azar's stories weave together in an unflinching, humorous, and at times terrifying story that demonstrates that, even as the world is falling apart around us, life goes on.

    In the four decades since, the diaspora has expanded to include not only those who emigrated immediately after the revolution but also their American-born children, more recent immigrants, and people who married into Iranian families, all of whom carry their own stories of trauma, triumph, adversity, and belonging that reflect varied and nuanced perspectives on what it means to be Iranian or Iranian American. The essays in My Shadow Is My Skin are these stories.This collection brings together thirty-two authors, both established and emerging, whose writing captures the diversity of Iranian diasporic experiences. Reflecting on the Iranian American experience over the past forty years and shedding new light on themes of identity, duality, and alienation in twenty-first-century America, the authors present personal narratives of immigration, sexuality, marginalization, marriage, and religion that offer an antidote to the news media's often superficial portrayals of Iran and the people who have a connection to it. My Shadow Is My Skin illuminates a community that rarely gets to tell its own story.

    A chance meeting alters her trajectory, and the space between fiction and reality narrows. As she circles the city's points of connection--teahouses, buses, galleries, hookah bars--her many questions are distilled into one: How do we translate loss into language?Melding several worlds, perspectives, and narrative styles, trans(re)lating house one translates the various realities of Tehran and its inhabitants into the realm of art, helping us remember them anew.

    Focusing on the stories of key figures like 2 Commando's Ian Turner and one of Australia's most infamous Jihadist, Khaled Sharrouf, Mckelvey takes us the heart of this brutal battle and brings history to life in an honest, thoughtful and compelling examination of modern warfare.A must-read for anyone interested in modern military history.

    It is a story of a young Iranian Baha'i who escapes persecution and war to immigrate to the United states. I was 6 years old when the Iranian revolution of 1979 threw my normal way of life off balance. In this book, I describe my life before the revolution from the perspective of a young child's memory of peaceful family life (road trips, stable home, swim lessons and normal interaction with neighbors). This peaceful life was soon disturbed by the Islamic revolution of 1979 and the enormous change in the political climate creating stress and uncertainty for my family because of our spiritual beliefs. I remember the chaos and violence in the streets of Tehran, as I occasionally rode the bus with my parents into the city center. I remember the establishment of the Islamic Republic by the Supreme religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, which led to the complete loss of basic human rights for the members of Baha'i community within Iran. This translated to their loss of jobs and pensions, the expelling of students from schools and universities, the government's refusal to recognize Baha'i marriage, and a ban on holding any religious gatherings, children's classes or otherwise practicing the Baha'i faith. The Islamic Revolution resulted in the imprisonment and persecution of hundreds of members of the Baha'i community. The government seized their properties, froze their bank accounts and prevented them from holding government jobs, all while preventing them from legally leaving the country. As Baha'is, my family tried to adjust to a new way of life, to live in a community but to minimize daily interactions with members of the Islamic majority for safety and not draw attention to ourselves. To make matters worse in 1980 we found ourselves in the midst of the Iran-Iraq war and suffered through eight years of Iraq's bombing of civilian areas multiple times day and night for months at a time. I am still haunted by horrific nightmares and trauma despite many years of healing and counseling to deal with the PTSD from years of paralyzing fear that no child should ever experience. The title of the book "Daylight forever" references my secret wish as a child as I laid on my thin mattress on the floor at nights, drenched in cold sweat as bombs dropped from the dark skies of Tehran and my yearning for the relative peace during daytime in Iran. As tears rolled down my face in spooky silent nights, I dreamed about climbing into a space craft and fly across the world where it was day light, only to come back in the morning to make it back to school on time. Those experiences led to my decision to embark on yet the scariest experience of my young life, to escape Iran. I was allowed to pack a school-size backpack with only very basic necessities like a toothbrush, comb and underwear. I said goodbye to my parents at the age of 15 and put my life and my trust in the hands of God and a group of men smugglers whom I had never known before and haven't seen since. I took the unknown path to my destiny… This book then follows my two-week journey to Pakistan, hidden in the back of trucks and in safe houses with strangers. My year-long struggles in Pakistan and then in Vienna to obtain refugee status eventually leads to my reunion with family in the United States. My book brings together stories of revolution, war, religious persecution, women's oppression, the denial of education and basic human rights and the only possible option for a frightened teenager who seeks safety, hope, freedom, education and a place to call home. I feel that sharing my story has special significance given the current debates over immigration, especially child immigration and the disturbing refugee crisis at our southern borders

    Originally known as Galavezh, she grew up in the Kurdish region of Iran in the 1960s and 70s. She became involved in politics as a teenager and, like many students, played a part in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. But the new Islamic regime tolerated no opposition, and after Kurdistan was brutally attacked, Galavezh found that she had no choice but to become a soldier in the famed military force.She spent twelve years on the front line, and helped lead the struggle for women’s rights and equality for the Kurdish people, becoming one of the Iranian regime’s most wanted in the process. As well as being the startling account of Galavezh's time as a fighter, Girl with a Gun is also a narrative about family and resilience, with a tragic love story at its heart.

    Observers of its security policies continue to try and make sense of this unlikely endurance. Some view the regime as a purely rational actor, whosenational security decisions and military affairs are shaped by the same considerations as in other states. Others believe that it is ideology driving Tehran's strategy. Either way, virtually everyone agrees that the mullahs' policies are fundamentally different from those pursued by theirmonarchical predecessors.No Conquest, No Defeat offers a historically grounded overview of Iranian national security. Tabatabai argues that the Islamic Republic is neither completely rational nor purely ideological. Rather, its national security policy today is largely shaped by its strategic culture, a product of thecountry's historical experiences of war and peace. As a result, Iranian strategic thinking is perhaps best characterized by its dynamic yet resilient nature, one that is continually evolving. As the Islamic Republic enters its fifth decade, this book sheds new light on Iran's controversial nuclearand missile programs and its involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

    The path to becoming one of the most influential women in Iran of the 1970's, leads Zahra Kadjar, an American educated Persian girl, down a rocky path of love, horses and politics that blind her from the realization of the revolution that was taking place in her beloved country.

    Tara Kangarou has created a work of people-to-people diplomacy, using her words to paint pictures of a very different country than the harsh, angry land depicted in the news. If only Iranians could read a similar account of the Heartbeat of the United States!"―Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America"With all of the talk about Iran, we hear far too little about the stories of the Iranian people themselves. The Heartbeat of Iran gives us the individual stories of Iranians - an illuminating and powerful portrait of a people who have been so often mischaracterized, and whose voices deserve to be heard."―Ben Rhodes, author of The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House"In no other time in history has there been such need for building bridges and closing the divides. Tara Kangarlou's Heartbeat Of Iran takes us to a country that has long been isolated and enables us to see Iran through its heart and soul -- its people."―Margot Wallstr�m, Foreign Minister Of Sweden"Tara Kangarlou's The Heartbeat Of Iran is an impressive, unique, and much needed addition to the compendium of literature on Iran. Using the personal stories of ordinary individuals, she brings to life the Iranian people--a people much misunderstood (and even maligned) in the west--and allows them their own voice in showing us what makes them who they are."―Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to DifferIn today's interconnected global village, Iran remains a mystery to much of the rest of the world--especially to those living in the United States and the west. While the country is often synonymous with rogue behavior on the world stage, there is also another, rarely seen side to this nation of 80 million, including being home to the greatest number of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel, and having the largest transsexual population in the region, among other unexpected surprises.The Heartbeat of Iran takes us on a journey into everyday life in Iran, where we meet the diverse people who make up the country's delicate socio-cultural, political, and religious mosaic. Through textured portraits of regular Iranians--from a blind Sunni environmental activist to the gay son of a general, from Iran's first female race car driver to a young rabbi who is training the future generation of Jewish rabbis in Israel's enemy state--The Heartbeat of Iran reveals a people whose dreams and fears mirror that of millions of others worldwide, and who yearn to join an international community that often views them through the blur of a hostile political fog.

    Romance with cultural differences

    Muslim piety had to be visible, in personal appearance and in action. Iranians were told to pray, fast, and attend mosques to be true Muslims. The revolution turned questions of what it means to be a true Muslim into a matter of public debate, taken up widely outside the exclusive realm of male clerics and intellectuals.Say What Your Longing Heart Desires offers an elegant ethnography of these debates among a group of educated, middle-class women whose voices are often muted in studies of Islam. Niloofar Haeri follows them in their daily lives as they engage with the classical poetry of Rumi, Hafez, and Saadi, illuminating a long-standing mutual inspiration between prayer and poetry. She recounts how different forms of prayer may transform into dialogues with God, and, in turn, Haeri illuminates the ways in which believers draw on prayer and ritual acts as the emotional and intellectual material through which they think, deliberate, and debate.

    In Contesting the Iranian Revolution, however, Pouya Alimagham re-examines this evaluation, deconstructing the conventional win-lose binary interpretations in a way which underscores the subtle but important victories on the ground, and reveals how Iran's modern history imbues those triumphs with consequential meaning. Focusing on the men and women who made this dynamic history, and who exist at the centre of these contentious politics, this 'history from below' brings to the fore the post-Islamist discursive assault on the government's symbols of legitimation. From powerful symbols rooted in Shiʿite Islam, Palestinian liberation, and the Iranian Revolution, Alimagham harnesses the wider history of Iran and the Middle East to highlight how activists contested the Islamic Republic's legitimacy to its very core.

    Like all imperial gambits before it the US-led plan has been to subjugate the entire region - whether through the direct application of force, or through coalitions or proxies - to secure privileged access to its tremendous resources and then dictate terms of access to all other players. Insofar as the key to a definitive defeat of Washington's ambitions lies in regional integration of the resistance forces-an integration led by Iran, the undisputed leader of an 'Axis of Resistance' to foreign domination and Zionist expansion--Iran has emerged as an ever more central target for regime change. This book, Axis of Resistance: towards an independent Middle East, follows the author's 2016 book The Dirty War on Syria. It examines the end of the war on Syria and the wider elements of the regional conflict, in particular the prospects for a democratic Palestine, the character of the Resistance and the role of Iran. It draws attention to these broad leitmotifs underpinning each particular history that are key to understanding both the parts and the whole: A single, essentially colonial impetus drives each particular US aggression from Libya to Afghanistan. These hybrid wars utilize propaganda offensives, economic siege warfare, terrorist proxies, direct invasions and military occupations followed by repression via client states. The aim is to keep resistance forces fragmented. Just as each aggression forms part of a broader Washington strategy, similarly the integration of the resistance in particular remains critical to its success. The Resistance has a common character but no idealized personality or ideology. However the common features are a demand for popular self-determination and for accountable social structures that serve broad social interests. Axis addresses myths about the wars and the resistance, while attempting a partial and provisional history of the conflicts. A focus on resistance can help us understand the defeat of great powers, something not possible for any analysis which begins and ends with power.

    and Iran are locked in a dangerous cycle of brinkmanship and violence. Both countries have staged cyber attacks and recently shot down one another's aircrafts. Why do both countries seem intent on escalation? Why did the U.S. abandon the nuclear deal (which, according to the UN, was working)? Where can Washington and Tehran find common ground? To address these questions and the political and historical forces at play, David Barsamian presents the perspectives of Iran scholars Ervand Abrahamian, Noam Chomsky, Nader Hashemi, Azadeh Moaveni, and Trita Parsi. A follow-up to the previously published Targeting Iran, this timely book continues to affirm the goodwill between Iranian and American people, even as their respective governments clash on the international stage.Praise for ReTargeting Iran: "A necessary and timely education on one of the most politically fraught and historically significant relationships of our time. I devoured these smart, insightful interviews with five important Iran scholars, about the struggle between two countries that have both been our home."--Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You"This little book contains more wisdom about Iran than exists in the White House, Congress, the State Department, and the Pentagon combined. Anyone who wants to understand the world's most misunderstood country will find no better source."--Stephen Kinzer, Author of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror"Many journalists and academics have written books about Iran. But "Retargeting Iran" fills an important gap, a book sharply critical of U.S. policy and the Iranian government. David Barsamian provides timely interviews with major analysts that sets the record straight. It's a highly accessible read and a great introduction to the U.S.-Iran conflict."--Reese Erlich, author of The Iran Agenda Today: The Real Story Inside Iran and What's Wrong with U.S. Policy.