The Great Iran

This book is the result of 14 years the author spent living in and returning to Iran, doing fieldwork research and journalism. The title, The Great Iran, refers to the intrigues schemed by Russians, Americans and British, who manipulated Persia since the Nineteenth century, narrated in Peter Hopkirk’s classic The Great Game. Whereas the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic has been never aggressive after 1979 nor it developed exportable models of Khomeinism, the foreign policy of the Republicans in the United States created the myth of a Great Iran: nowadays an essential country in resolving the main conflicts provoked by outside attacks, from Syria to Iraq to Afghanistan. This book will focus on the evolution of the Iranian civil society under the Qajar dynasty up to the Rouhani presidency. The great events that preceded the 1978-1979 protests in the Twentieth century and the Islamic Revolution will be addressed. The reformist years under Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), together with the 2009 and 2011 protests, which the author experienced first-hand, will be discussed also through interviews with experts and activists. Lastly, the moderate shift under president Hassan Rouhani, elected in June 2013, the 2015 nuclear deal and the 2018 protests will be disentangled.