Worlds Apart

Using declassified records, this book documents the tumultuous relationship between the US and Iran. Its innovative and accessible approach to history provides glossaries, discussion questions, and clear instructions for decoding records and will serve as an indispensable resource for those interested in US foreign policy and Iranian history.

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A relationship beset with extraordinary acrimony, the US and Iran rarely see eye-to-eye, if only to avoid war or nuclear catastrophe. What is at the core of this troubled rivalry that has stymied policymakers and scholars alike? Using a carefully selected collection of White House, CIA, State Department, and other records, Worlds Apart provides a comprehensive answer to this question: starting from the 1979 revolution and hostage crisis, through the Iran-Iraq War and the spread of radical Islam, to 9/11 and the nuclear impasse, to the 2009 Green Movement and the Obama and Trump presidencies. The records, which form the heart of the book, offer a rare, unfiltered view into the perspectives and experiences of the American and Iranian governments over 40 years. Providing timelines, glossaries, discussion questions, and a guide on reading declassified documents, Byrne and Byrne explore this complicated relationship accessibly and innovatively in this unique documentary history.