Targeting Iran

210 Pages·2007·15.563 MB·English

by  David Barsamian, Noam Chomsky, Ervand Abrahamian, Nahid Mozaffari

BARSAMIAN
AVID
with
NOAM CHOMSKY
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN
andNAHID MOZAFFARI
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://archive.org/details/targetingiranOObars
-y Targeting
Iran
DAVID BARSAMIAN
NOAM CHOMSKY,
with
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN,
NAHID MOZAFFARI
and
T
-.
Open Media Series
CityLights Books
San Francisco
r>
——
© Copyright2007byDavid Barsamian
© Copyright2007byErvandAbrahamianandDavidBarsamian
© Copyright2007byNoamChomskyand David Barsamian
© Copyright2007byNahidMozaffariand DavidBarsamian
All Rights Reserved
TheOpen Media SeriesiseditedbyGregRuggieroandarchivedby
theTamimentLibrary, NewYorkUniversity.
CoverphotobyAli Khaligh. "An Iraniancouplecrossthestreetindowntown
Tehran, Iran, 2005."
Coverdesign: Pollen
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barsamian, David.
Targeting Iran/byDavid Barsamian;withNoamChomsky, ErvandAbra-
hamian,—andNahidMozaffari.
p. cm. (Openmedia series)
Includesindex.
ISBN-13: 978-0-87286-458-0
ISBN-10: 0-87286-458-8
— — —
1. United States Foreign rel—ations Iran. 2. Ira—n Foreign relations
United—States. 3. United St—ates Foreign re—lations 1945-1989. 4. United
States Foreign r—elations 1989- 5. Iran —Politics and gover—nment
1941-1979. 6. Ira—n Politicsandgovernment 1979-1997.7. Iran Politics
andgovernment 1997-1.Chomsky, Noam. II.Abrahamian, Ervand, 1940-
III. Mozaffari, Nahid. IV.Title.
E183.8.I55B38 2007
3277305509'045—dc22
2006101938
City Lights BooksarepublishedattheCityLights Bookstore,
261 ColumbusAvenue, San Francisco, CA 94133.
VisitourWebsite:www.citylights.com
ervandabrahamian,bornin Iran,isprofessorofMid-
dle Eastern history at Baruch College in New York. A
leading scholar on Iran, he is the author ofIran Between
Two Revolutionsand Khomeinism, andcoauthorofInvent-
ingtheAxisofEvil.
david barsamian is the award-winning founder and
director ofAlternative Radio (www.alternativeradio.org).
His interviews appear in magazines and periodicals
aroundtheworld. His latestbooks are SpeakingofEmpire
and Resistance with Tariq Ali; Imperial Ambitions with
Noam Chomsky; and Original Zinn with Howard Zinn.
NOAM Chomsky, internationallyrenowned MITprofes-
sor, practically invented modern linguistics. In addition
tohispioneeringworkinthatfield,hehasbeenaleading
voiceforpeaceandsocialjustice.The New York Timescalls
him "a global phenomenon, perhaps the most widely
read voice on foreign policy on the planet." A prolific
author,hislatestbooksare Failed Statesand Interventions.
nahid mozaffari,bornin Iran, is authorofThe Public
Intellectual in Iran: 1906-1956. She has taught Middle
Eastern history at the New School in New York. She
receivedher Ph.D. inhistoryand Middle Eastern studies
from Harvard.

Contents
Acknowledgments
9
Introduction
DAVID BARSAMIAN
II
chapter1
Targeting Iran
NOAM CHOMSKY
31
chapter2
The Mullahs Face Off: Washington Versus Tehran
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN
69
chapter}
Culture and Resistance: Writing Backto Power
NAHID MOZAFFARI
125
Index
189

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wouldlike to thank allthe contributors who made
this book possible. Additionally, my gratitude goes
to Anatascia Dadashpour for her astute editing
assistance, Farah Davari for her sagacious advice,
KGNU
David Peterson, fact-checker extraordinaire,
for technical support, and Greg Ruggiero, intrepid
editor. Thanks also to International Socialist Review,
where parts ofthe Chomsky interview appeared.
—
David Barsamian