Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic

by: Ray Takeyh

Published by: Holt Paperbacks

Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali

The aftermath of Khomeini’s revolution has left Iran with several factions within its political structure, all of whom are trying to achieve different goals through its foreign and domestic policies. This collection of factions and mosaic of goals are both complementary and contradictory, thus making it difficult to fully understand the rational behind Iran’s policies.

For simplicity, Takeyh divides the political factions into three groups: conservatives, pragmatists and reformers. He also classifies the objectives of Iran’s policies as dogmatic (i.e., undisputable as they are based on religious exegeses) or pragmatic (i.e., aim for political stability). Further, he delineates the scope of these policies as applying to the domestic, Middle Eastern, Eurasian, or World sphere.

Takeyh then uses the above framework to deconstruct Iranian policies (both foreign and domestic) in light of which faction these policies serve and their possible underpinnings. He also looks at how America’s overtures (direct and indirect) towards Iran panned out in Iranian politics. For example, the U.S. led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan inadvertently empowered Iran by weakening its two most potent enemies. Takeyh seems to suggest that the closer a country is to Iran, the more likely its policies towards it would be based on pragmatism, and the farther away a country is from Iran, the more likely that its policies would be based on dogmatism. Israel and some of the former Soviet Republics are used as examples to illustrate this point. He also shows how the U.S. embargo against Iran after Khomeini’s Revolution and including Iran in the “axis of evil” resulted in the opposite of what the U.S. was trying to achieve. It makes one wonder how the current standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions would play out.

Some readers may feel that Iranian politics is more nuanced than Takeyh suggests, leading him to suggest that our issues with Iran would go away through dialogue. However, given the missed opportunities and faux pas by Iranian and American diplomats, it seems that American diplomats do not have even this level of understanding of Iranian politics, and that Iran’s understanding of the American political system or sentiment is lacking.

Armchair Interviewer says: Between “Getting Iran Wrong” (the introduction) and “Getting Iran Right” (the concluding chapter), Takeyh presents a nuanced view of Iranian politics.