Medea Benjamin presents "Inside Iran: The Real History & Politics of the Islamic Republic"

Medea Benjamin, one of America’s best-known & most effective activists, co-founder of Code Pink and Global Exchange, is the author of Drone Warfare and Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S—Saudi Connection. In 2012 she was awarded the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation’s Peace Prize, and in 2014 the Gandhi Peace Award.

Now Medea has written the first general-audience progressive book on Iran’s history and politics, recounting Iran’s history from the pre-colonial period through the CIA-engineered coup that in 1953 overthrew the country’s democratic leadership, to its emergence as the only nation (other than Russia, of course) both Democrats and Republicans regularly denounce. Benjamin draws upon her firsthand experiences with Iranian politicians, activists and everyday citizens to provide a deeper understanding of the extraordinary complexities of Iranian society and the national role in the region. In 1979 the Iranian Revolution brought a Shia theocracy to the 80 million inhabitants of the Middle East’s second largest country. In the decades since, bitter relations have persisted between the U.S. and Iran. Yet how is it that Iran has become the primary target of American antagonism, when Saudi Arabia – a regime far more repressive – has become one of America’s closest allies?