To understand contemporary Irana??s notoriously complex politics, it is essential to grasp the monumental changes initiated by Mohammad Khatami. The previously little-known cleric stormed to victory in Irana??s 1997 presidential elections with nearly 70 percent of the vote, encouraging Irana??s reform movement to flourish during his eight year tenure as president. Ghoncheh Tazminia??s book offers a thought-provoking, astutely close-up yet systematic analysis of Khatami the man and the reform movement that supported him. She provides us with the first insight into Khatami and his politics, unravelling from the inside the dramatic emergence and consequences of Irana??s vibrant reform movement. Balanced and analytical, this book provides a comprehensive and finely detailed introduction to the subtleties of contemporary Irana??s complex political culture. At the same time it is an important reference point for a critical period of Irana??s post-revolutionary trajectory, especially given the controversial Post-Khatami developments in the country following the election of President Ahmadinejad.And with the Ahmadinejad view of Iranian politics creating a measure of discord in the country, Khatamia? ?s role as a player on the Iranian political scene remains firm.

Russia and Iran often clash on the regional stage. Yet, their partnership endures and their power in the Middle East is growing. What is the basis of the Moscow-Tehran relationship? What are the ambitions of these states in the region? Do Moscow and Tehran have an ‘alliance’, ‘alignment’ or a ‘coalition’? This book assesses how Moscow and Tehran have built their strategic partnership. Ghoncheh Tazmini argues for a Russia-Iran ‘alignment’, which is based on their shared narratives of the international order. She shows that to counteract US unilateralism, and with both states feeling internationally isolated, the Kremlin needs Tehran as much as Tehran needs the Kremlin. Yet it is well known that these states’ conflicting agendas and asymmetries create areas of tension especially concerning divergent interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the GCC. Based on primary Persian sources and interviews with stakeholders, Tazmini explains why Moscow-Tehran relations are a lot more durable than many in the West and the Middle East may believe. Given the US’s decision to narrow its scope of engagement in the Middle East, and new security concerns posed by Russia as key actor in the region, this analysis will be vital for assessing the implications of the Moscow-Tehran alignment.

Russia and Iran often clash on the regional stage. Yet, their partnership endures and their power in the Middle East is growing. What is the basis of the Moscow-Tehran relationship? What are the ambitions of these states in the region? Do Moscow and Tehran have an ‘alliance’, ‘alignment’ or a ‘coalition’? This book assesses how Moscow and Tehran have built their strategic partnership. Ghoncheh Tazmini argues for a Russia-Iran ‘alignment’, which is based on their shared narratives of the international order. She shows that to counteract US unilateralism, and with both states feeling internationally isolated, the Kremlin needs Tehran as much as Tehran needs the Kremlin. Yet it is well known that these states’ conflicting agendas and asymmetries create areas of tension especially concerning divergent interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the GCC. Based on primary Persian sources and interviews with stakeholders, Tazmini explains why Moscow-Tehran relations are a lot more durable than many in the West and the Middle East may believe. Given the US’s decision to narrow its scope of engagement in the Middle East, and new security concerns posed by Russia as key actor in the region, this analysis will be vital for assessing the implications of the Moscow-Tehran alignment.

All eyes are on Iran, and one man has emerged pivotal to the country's future direction: Mohammad Khatami. Not only his politics but his entire persona stand in stark contrast to his political rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose four-year presidency has proved so fatefully controversial for Iran.
When Mohammed Khatami stormed to his 1997 election victory in a landslide result, the world waited anxiously for the reforms and radical changes that he would bring to the Iranian Presidency. By the end of his term in 2005, general disillusion had spread among his supporters.
But when in early 2009, Khatami again announced his candidacy for the Presidency, he was greeted with massive enthusiasm and support. The Ahmadinejad period of the previous four years had dramatically restored the fortunes of this mild-mannered, cerebral cleric who sought to bring Iran into the twenty-first century, end its international isolation, mend relations with the US, and take its place as the leading regional power.
But who is this enigmatic cleric, so little known in the West, whose grasp of Iran's realities seems so much firmer than that of many of the secular figures around him? This book for the first time reveals the background, formation, and thinking of a man who may yet change the face of politics in the Middle East.