Description
ISBN: 9781098312152
Format: Trade paperback (US)
Year: 2021
Publisher: Bookbaby
Description:
What will happen after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's passing? How is the factional struggle for power in Iran over succession of Khamenei, between technocratic elites within the regime led by President Hassan Rouhani on the one side, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and its allies on the other, likely to impact the trajectory of the Islamic Republic and future of U.S.-Iranian relations? This book answers these questions.
Following the introductory Chapter 1, Chapter 2 discusses how Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini usurped power in Iran following the revolution of 1979 and became the leader of the revolution. Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive account of the struggle over succession during Khomeini's lifetime and how Khomeini's illness and secret relations with the United States paved Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's path to leadership. Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive analysis of the factional struggle underway over Khamenei's succession, and how external pressure from Washington under President Donald J. Trump and its allies may complete the transformation of the Islamic Republic into a military dictatorship dominated by the IRGC – although one led by a symbolic clerical figurehead. Chapter 5 discusses the impact of militarization of the Islamic Republic for the trajectory of U.S.-Iranian relations.
Considering the succession following Khamenei, the book concludes:
- In line with earlier instances, the rules and procedures for political succession enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic will be ignored and retroactively adjusted to legitimize the individual or group prev