New FDD Report Provides In-Depth Analysis of Iranian Leaders Engaged in Nuclear Talks

Read full report here 

WASHINGTON – A new monograph released today by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explores in depth the personalities and motivations of three Iranian leaders who are currently deeply engaged in the Iranian nuclear negotiations with the United States. “Persian Truths & American Self-Deception: Ali Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani, and Muhammad-Javad Zarif In Their Own Words”, written by FDD senior fellows Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ali Alfoneh, utilizes primary source material to provide more details about Iran’s supreme leader, president and foreign minister.

The print booklet will officially be unveiled as part of FDD’s Washington Forum 2015, a two-day summit that brings together U.S. military and government officials, as well as the diplomatic and intelligence community, foreign policy professionals, and the media to analyze the ideologies that continue to drive terrorism in the Middle East and throughout the world.  The theme for this year’s Forum is “Wars of the Islamic World: America as Actor or Spectator?”

Gerecht, a former CIA Iran targets officer, and Alfoneh, who grew up in Tehran, sought to better understand the political philosophy of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.  The authors conducted much of their research and interviews in the original Persian (Farsi) before translating their conclusions to English.      

The goal was to replace the “quick, and sometimes grossly inaccurate, sketches of Iranian leaders” that Gerecht says have become commonplace, both in the media and government.

“We took a deep dive into the primary material to learn what made these men tick,” Gerecht and Alfoneh said.  “Knowing these three men as best as we can, including what events and people and literature helped to shape them, ought to be at the center of the nuclear debate in Washington.”

The profiles of Rouhani, Zarif and Khamenei were each published in major magazines in the last year, with the intent to package them as a trilogy. The new introduction, written by Gerecht, explores the value to “know thine enemy” in the current climate of negotiations and the new opportunities to understand Iranian leaders.

“As the Iranian revolution has aged, Iranian clerics and lay power players have been putting pen to paper more assiduously,” Gerecht says. “Persian source material has never been better.”

“In any negotiation, it is essential to know who you are dealing with,” said Mark Dubowitz, FDD’s executive director.  “These essays take a deep dive into the cultural and political upbringing of Iran’s current leaders, and share lessons that will be valuable for the foreign policy community as they view the current negotiations and evaluate any deal that is reached in the coming months.”

Alfoneh is an FDD senior fellow and a leading expert on the inner workings of the Iranian regime. He was formerly a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, specializing on civil-military relations in Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). He is the author of Iran Unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards is Transforming Iran from Theocracy into Military Dictatorship.

Gerecht is an FDD senior fellow who focuses on Iran, Afghanistan, terrorism and intelligence. He is the author of three books, including The Wave: Man, God and the Ballot Box in the Middle East and Know Thine Enemy: A Spy’s Journey into Revolutionary Iran. He is a former Middle East specialist at the CIA’s Directorate of Operations and was the director of the Middle East Initiative at the Project for the New American Century.

You can view the full report here.

About the Foundation for Defense of Democracies:
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)3 policy institute focusing on foreign policy and national security. Founded in 2001, FDD combines policy research, democracy and counterterrorism education, strategic communications and investigative journalism in support of its mission to promote pluralism, defend democratic values and fight the ideologies that drive terrorism. Visit our website at www.defenddemocracy.org and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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