The Iranian Revolution of 1979 shook the world and changed the strategic balance in the region. In the build-up to the Revolution, there was a unity of purpose that was summed up by Ayatollah Khomeini: "The monarchy must go. The Shah is corrupt. His hands are dripping with blood. He is a foreign agent. He is the Yazid of our age." In the perception of most Iranians, a tyrant had usurped the state; its retrieval was, therefore, essential. Beyond that, however, there was little by way of an agreed agenda for social reconstruction. This became evident in the years that followed. A revolutionary passion first gave way to revolutionary reason and then to a reawakened desire for reforms.

A quarter of a century later, demography, education and urbanisation have become the agents of change. One generation has power while the other has demands. The purpose of the Observer Research Foundation's New Delhi conference on which this volume is based was to explore the evolving perceptions and ascertain their direction and pace of change.


Contents

Introduction
M Hamid Ansari

Message
Yashwant Sinha

Inaugural Session
R.K. Mishra
Brajesh Mishra

Society and Politics
Reforms, Reaction and the Future of Democracy in Contemporary Iran
Dr. Ali M.Ansari

The Rise and Fall of President Khatami and the Reform Movement
Said Amir Arjomand

The Religious Roots of the Iranian Revolution
Ali Reza Sheikh Attar

Social Changes in Iran After Islamic Revolution
Sergey Borisovich Druzhilovskiy

The Road to Debacle: An Analysis of the February 2004 Parliamentary Election in Iran
Mark Gasiorowski

Iran: The Revolutions of October
Bernard Hourcade

The Relationship Between Religion and Political System
Syed Taha Hashemi

Iran, Islam and Revolution
Akbar Khaleeli

Future of Iran in Question 
Amir Ali Nourbakhsh

Modernist Islam in Iran, Actual challenge, Process of modernization
Gholam Abbas Tavassoli

Islam, Religious Fundamentalism and Reform: A look back at the Iranian Islamic Revolution After a quarter of a Century.
Sadegh Zibakalam

Foreign Policy
Mehdi Hashemi's Fall. An Eposiode of The Iranian Intra Elite Struggle for Power Under Khomeini
Wilfred Buchta

The Islamic Republic at 25: Adaptation and Evolution 
Shahram Chubin

Iran and American Wars on its Flanks
Gulshan Dietl

Iran Gas Pipeline to Indian Sub-Continent
Narsi Ghorban

Iran Witnessed by History
Hua Liming

Islamic Revolution- Foreign Policy after 25 years
Elaheh Koolaeh

Iran's Evolving Regional Politics: Reflections of Domestic Factionalism
David Menashri

Women's Movement
Women's Political Participation in Post Revolutionary Iran
Elaheh Koolaeh

Women's Movement in Post- Revolutionary Iran
Azadeh Kian- Thiebaut

Culture
The Contemporary Historical Context of Indo- Iranian Relations
Barun De

List of Contributors

Index