The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

Although this is an accessible and interesting book, it is nevertheless a curious concoction. There are two problems which make it far from a proper study of Iran and its current leadership.

First is that in several places, one runs into information which is suspect, either due to bias or poor research. This shows itself in the first two chapters where information about the current Iranian president has been lifted from Ahmadinejad's electoral campaign website (!) as well as other official Iranian sources. In the end, more space is given to the propaganda than revealing the man.

Other examples of lacking research are with what has become known as the 'Guildeman Fax.' A fax received by the White House in 2003 via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran (as the US has no embassy of its own there) purporting to be from senior levels within the Ayatolla's regime. This fax offered a comprehensive settlement on 'all areas of contention between the US and Iran, including the nuclear issue'. Melman and Javedenfar describe the Bush administration's lack of response and the ensuing uproar when the story was leaked to the press.

The reasons the authors cite for the Bush administration's ambivalence towards the fax is due to something along the lines of Bush and Cheney being "neo-con war-mongers" etc. Whilst I wouldn't exactly leap at the chance to defend the Bush administration, with further research Melman and Javedanfar would have found that - unbeknown to Guildeman - not only did the fax contradict messages US intelligence sources in Iran were revealing, but the US was also receiving messages of Iran's complicity in the supporting and funding of both Shia and Sunni insurgents in Iraq, in order weaken Iraq and US forces fighting there. So the fax from the Iranians was a sophisticated attempt to gauge the US administration's next move.

Second is the lack of analysis and interpretation on information. An example is in describing Ahmadinejad's life during the 1970s. By the mid-1970s, he's listed as coming within the top 1% of university students in a prestigious exam, but also having to escape north of Tehran because of his anti-Shah activities, he then disappears for a few years emerging shortly before the revolution. But nothing is implied or investigated about this. One presumes during this absence, Ahmadinejad trained to become an intelligence officer seeing as this was his role after the fall of the Shah.

Clearly this book falls flat on its face in delivering a truly enlightening bio of Ahmadinejad, but for some inexplicable reason, all was not lost on me. I decided to overlook these idiosyncrasies and carry on, wondering if I might stumble upon some truly insightful information.

After an initial bumpy intro, things seemed to improve with the doubtful journalism being brushed aside in order to get down to business. Despite the sporadic areas of contention, this is an interesting book.

The IGRC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) is a frequent subject but my favourite part was describing the ideology the most orthodox disciples are indoctrinated with called "Infidel psychology" with explanations such as "smiling at strangers, being a Western idea, is borne out of weakness and a desire to appease."

There is an interesting explanation of the religious roots of the Shia Islamic messiah, the Mehdi. I have read several explanations on this topic, but here it is more explicit, chilling in fact. Among the events prophesied - in order for the Mahdi to return, is a global conflict in which 80% of the earth's population would perish.

The chapter on the IAEA was very revealing, showing the complex relationship between the IAEA and the world's intelligence agencies and how they use the IAEA. In this chapter, the authors place much blame for the current Iranian problem at the feet of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Along with a few other things, the 'military' and 'sanction' options are explained, distinguishing between the simplicity of terminating Iraq's nuclear reactor in Osiraq (which took the Israeli Air Force two and a half minutes to destroy), and the various sites in Iran.

At the back of the book is an appendix with a list of Iranian companies and individuals banned under UN Resolution 1737; a diagram showing a nuclear fuel cycle; then various photographs, including one satellite image of an Iranian nuclear factory site, and a map of Iran showing the locations of the (known) nuclear sites.

As Israeli journalists, Yossi Melman and Meir Javedanfar, either didn't want to write a predictable book about Iran (considering their nationalities), or were just trying to be different. Despite all the problems, I did like the book. Whilst reading it, I thought this was simply an attempt to lay the facts on the table without going on a witch-hunt in light of many people's reticence to yet 'another evil dictator' in the Middle East. However once finishing the book, the various links between Ahmadinejad and other ideologues within the regime began to resurface within my mind, and left me wondering why this was not emphasized more. In other words, Melman & Javedanfar provided the evidence, but were too hesitant in pointing out the inevitable conclusion.

I did find 'The Nuclear Sphinx' an accessible read, and would've recommended it as a first book on the state of Iran, but the ridiculous flaws and poor research in places simply make this unqualified on too many levels. Shame.

More reading:

Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Continues to Defy the West
The Secret War with Iran: The 30-year Covert Struggle for Control of a Rogue State

Iran's president portrays a frightening future for the middle east, one where nuclear powers are unafraid, and literally MAD. Meir Javedanfar's book provides insight into what is really going on, what we in the West cannot see or understand. His intimate knowledge of Iran, where he grew up, and the in-depth information he conveys to the reader make this book a fascinating read.
I have seen Meir on several tv news channels but this is Meir's first book. I will be following his analysis in the future as he further clarifies what we in the West

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See both customer reviews...

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!