Peyman Jafari

You have described the Green Movement in Iran that emerged after the 2009 presidential elections as a civil rights movement, rather than an attempt to overthrow the whole political order. Do you think the Green Movement will eventually have to pose a fundamental political challenge to the regime?

The fallout from the presidential election on 12 June precipitated the biggest political crisis in Iran since the 1979 revolution. The official results gave the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 63 percent of votes, compared to 34 percent for his main rival, the reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi, who then accused the government of vote-rigging. In the following days hundreds of thousands took to the streets of major cities, defying the riot police and shouting, "Where is my vote?"

For those of us who are terrified by the prospect of a new war that would turn Iran into another Iraq, this book is a refreshing antidote to the simplistic view of Iranian politics and society pictured in the mainstream.

Dilip Hiro, who has written extensively on the Middle East and frequently travels to Iran, gives an easy to read account of Iran's history which helps us to understand the current crisis.

Hardly any analyst had anticipated the sweeping victory of the conservative hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad in Iran's presidential election in June this year. What most Iranians rejected, however - even if it was in a distorted way - was their ruling elite and the hawkish rumblings from Washington.

In Washington and London, the warmongers are turning their attention to Iran for 'regime change'. And it seems they have already found an applicant for the Iranian version of Chalabi or Karzai. The son of the Shah who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution now regularly appears on BBC, CNN and the Voice of America to show his credentials to his masters. He hopes they will put him back on the Peacock Throne, like they did his father 50 years ago.