Awards

• Short-listed for BAAL Book Prize 2021 (United States)

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9781838601546

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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 *

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 *

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

Author Information

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.

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