The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry since 1979...

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Alex Vatanka (Middle East Institute and the Jamestown Foundation, Washington D.C, U.S)

The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran

The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry since 1979

Alex Vatanka (Middle East Institute and the Jamestown Foundation, Washington D.C, U.S)

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English

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
01 July 2021

Middle Eastern history; Political geography

Understanding the foreign policy agenda and behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a critical challenge for the world. But where do the principal Iranian regime actors come from in terms of political background, experiences and interests? Which types of ambitions or policy conflicts have dominated and shaped foreign policy debates since 1979?

This book explains the internal policy process in Tehran by following two regime personalities, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who before his death in January 2017 held some of the most powerful political positions in Iran. No two men have been more influential in dictating the regime’s decision-making processes since 1979. Yet little is known about how their competing worldviews and interests, their key moments of dispute – both personal or policy-based – or their personal ambitions have informed the trajectory of Iranian politics. The book analyzes Khamenei and Rafsanjani’s own words and writings - and accounts of them given by others -

to reveal how the domestic policy contest has shaped Tehran’s actions on the regional and international stage. Comprising primary and secondary Iranian sources - including untapped memoirs, newspaper reports, and Iranian electronic media and personal interviews - the book highlights the principal rivalries over the lifespan of the Islamic Republic and offers new insights into the present and future of Iranian foreign policy.

By: Alex Vatanka (Middle East Institute and the Jamestown Foundation Washington D.C U.S)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 412g
ISBN: 9781838601553
ISBN 10: 1838601554
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 01 July 2021
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preliminary Chapter Outline: · Background and the earliest intra-regime debate about the Islamic Republic’s international identity: to remain a nation state with a narrow and well-defined national priorities or to become a global revolutionary cause · 1980-1988: The debate on how to break Iran’s international isolation during the Iran-Iraq War (what was out of necessity and what was due to genuine policy differences) · 1989-1997: President Rafsanjani’s first attempt to return to the global mainstream (how much of a consensus was behind this policy shift?) · 1997-2005: President Khatami and a second attempt to reintegrate into the global mainstream (The intensification of the link between factional legitimacy, power play and foreign policy) · 2005-2013: Ahmadinejad’s populist and erratic foreign policy approach: from revolutionary zeal to challenging Ayatollah Khamenei’s conventional wisdom · 2013-present: Ayatollah Khamenei’s balancing act to maintain an equilibrium between President Rouhani’s “moderates” and the “hardliners” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Each of these chapters will be further divided into sub-chapters based on specific turn of events. For example, what was the Iranian debate during the Iran-Contra affair or the debate on how to respond to the Taliban’s killing of Iranian diplomats in 1998? These are some examples of pivotal moments in Iranian foreign policy where American analysts, policy-makers and general audience will benefit from being exposed to Iranian accounts.

Alex Vatanka is Senior Fellow in the Middle East Institute and the Jamestown Foundation in Washington D.C. He is the author of Iran-Pakistan: Security, Diplomacy, and American Influence (I.B.Tauris, 2015) and has written for outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Americas Quarterly, CNN.com, Al Monitor, the Journal of International Security Affairs and BBC Persian Online.

Reviews for The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry since 1979

Alex Vatanka's Battle of the Ayatollahs is a provocative and intriguing account of the past 40 years of Iranian history told in a way never done before. By focusing on the relationship of the Islamic Republic's two most enduring figures, Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, he brings to life the complex role that these and other key personalities played in building a regime that has bedeviled the United States ever since. -- Kenneth M. Pollack, author of The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran by Alex Vatanka is a riveting book, well written and absorbing, tracing political developments in the Islamic Republic since its inception through the ideology of two major players in the IRI, Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Ayatollah Khamenei. It was a relationship between a mentor (Rafsanjani) and a mentee (Khamenei) that evolved over the years from close friendship and patronage, and with the more powerful Rafsanani acting as the king-maker for Khamenei to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader. As Khamenei concentrated power in his own hands, he distanced himself from Rafsanjani and gradually marginalized and eventually sidelined him. Their differences over domestic and foreign policy, including a potential rapprochement with the United States that Rafsanjani favored and Khamenei did not, spilled out into the open, so that towards the end of Rafsanjani's life a once-close relationship was bordering on enmity. A fascinating story and a good read, for not only those interested in Iran but for anyone who enjoys a good story, well-told. -- Haleh Esfandiari Director Emerita and Senior Scholar Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC, USA Alex Vatanka has written an original and detailed account of factional infighting in post-revolutionary Iran. This book serves as a testimony to the time-honoured wisdom that a revolution devours its children. It is an essential read for anyone who wishes to understand the complexities of the clerical landscape and its divisions in today's Iran. * Roya Hakakian, author of Assassins of the Turquoise Palace *