Books About Iran

Vali Nasr is a world-renowned authority on Shia Islam and Middle Eastern politics. He is currently a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he served as Dean from 2012 to 2019.

The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat (Doubleday, 2013) – A critique of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and South Asia.

Forces of Fortune: The Rise of a New Muslim Middle Class and How it Will Change Our World (Free Press, 2009) – Explores the role of the middle class in shaping the future of the Muslim world.

The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future (W.W. Norton, 2006) – A seminal work on the sectarian dynamics of the Middle East.

Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty (Oxford University Press, 2006) – Co-authored with Ali Gheissari.

Islamic Leviathan: Islam and the Making of State Power (Oxford University Press, 2001).

Narges Bajoghli is an assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS and an anthropologist and filmmaker.

How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare (Stanford University Press, 2024) – Co-authored with Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Ali Vaez.

Iran Reframed: Anxieties of Power in the Islamic Republic (Stanford University Press, 2019) – An ethnographic study of pro-regime media producers in Iran.

Sanctioned Lives (Stanford University Press, 2024) – A graphic novella visualising oral histories of life under sanctions.

Debating the Iran-Iraq War in Contemporary Iran (Routledge, 2018) – Co-edited with Arshin Adib-Moghaddam.

Alex Shams is an Iranian-American journalist and anthropologist with a PhD from the University of Chicago. He is the editor-in-chief of Ajam Media Collective.

• “A 'Persian' Iran?: Challenging the Aryan Myth and Persian Ethnocentrism” (Essay, 2018) – Explores the roots of Iranian nationalism.
• “Urban Space and the Production of Gender in Modern Iran” (The Funambulist, 2015) – Analyzes how city design influences gender politics.
• “From guests of the Imam to unwanted foreigners” (Academic Article, 2022) – Examines the history of South Asian pilgrimage to Iran.
• Selected Journalism: He has written extensively for outlets like the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Middle East Eye, and Al Jazeera on topics ranging from urbanism to popular resistance.

Naghmeh Sohrabi is the Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History and Director for Research at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University.

• Taken for Wonder: Nineteenth-Century Travel Accounts from Iran to Europe (Oxford University Press, 2012) – A study of Persian travel literature.
• “Writing Revolution as if Women Mattered” (Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, 2022) – A re-evaluation of gender in revolutionary history.
• “'A Sky Drowning in Stars': Global '68, the Death of Takhti, and the Birth of the Iranian Revolution” (Book Chapter, 2021).
• Current Project: She is currently writing a book on the "revolutionary experience" of ordinary Iranians during the 1979 Revolution.

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in the international politics and modern history of Iran and the Middle East. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the International Relations of the Middle East at the University of St Andrews. His work frequently analyzes Iranian political thought, the impact of economic sanctions, and the historical development of revolutionary movements

• Revolution and its Discontents: Political Thought and Reform in Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2019) – A comprehensive study of the intellectual foundations of the Iranian reform movement.
• Iran: Dictatorship and Development (Oneworld Publications, 2024 edition) – An expanded and edited version of Fred Halliday’s classic text, including updated analysis by Sadeghi-Boroujerdi.
• Political Parties in the Middle East (Routledge, 2019) – Co-edited with Siavush Randjbar-Daemi.
• "Iran's Uprisings for 'Women, Life, Freedom': Overdetermination, Crisis, and the Lineages of Revolt" (Politics, 2023) – An academic article examining the roots and implications of the 2022 protests.
• "Made in Tehran: Iran's Crises" (London Review of Books, February 2026) – A recent analysis of contemporary Iranian domestic and regional challenges.
• Selected Commentary: He is a regular contributor to Jacobin, Jadaliyya, and Sidecar (New Left Review), often focusing on the human and political costs of "economic warfare" against Iran. 

Borzou Daragahi is an award-winning Iranian-American journalist and foreign correspondent who has covered the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe for over two decades. He is currently the International Correspondent for The Independent and a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. A three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Daragahi is widely recognized for his on-the-ground reporting during the 2009 Green Movement and his analysis of Iranian domestic politics. 

• Beyond Control: Iran and its Opponents Locked in a Lopsided Confrontation (Atlantic Council, 2019) – An issue brief analyzing the landscape of Iranian opposition groups and why the regime perceives them as existential threats.
• Afghanistan: Where US-Iranian Interests May Yet Intersect (Atlantic Council, 2022) – Examines the evolving relationship between Tehran and the Taliban and potential areas of tacit U.S.-Iran cooperation.
• "Iran: At The Frontier Between Hope And Fear" (LinkedIn/The Independent, March 2026) – A recent long-form analysis of contemporary Iranian social and political dynamics.
• "Iran is using its cyber capabilities to kidnap its foes in the real world" (Atlantic Council, 2023) – A report on the Islamic Republic's use of technology for transnational repression.
• "New protests expose widening rift between Iran’s regime and 'the people'" (Atlantic Council, 2019) – An ethnographic account of the 2019 fuel protests and internal regime fractures.
• Selected Journalism & Commentary: He is a prolific contributor to The Independent, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and The Financial Times. His newsletter, Badlands, covers war, politics, and culture across the Middle East.

Trita Parsi is the Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a leading advocate for diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Iran.

Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale University Press, 2017) – An insider account of the negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal.

A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama's Diplomacy with Iran (Yale University Press, 2012) – Analyzes early Obama-era efforts at engagement.

Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States (Yale University Press, 2007) – A history of the triangular relationship between the three nations.