Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Iran

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This book is useful to give a genereal overview of the situation in Iran to a north American reader. However, it clearly shows that the book has been written in a hurry to get it to the market while the Iran-Iraq 'Axis of Evil' issue is still really hot.

Its problems include:

-A lot of typos (Even Iran is spelled Iraq occasionally!)
-Some historical inacuracy (e.g Ayatullah Khomeini was not yet in Paris during the 2500 anniversary celebrations as the book states)
-and very bad handling of the Persian names (mixing first names, surnames and old-style titles).

Putting aside all the typos and other such errors, there are so many serious factual errors in this book as that one can't help think they're intentional!

Just on the topic of Iran's nuclear program, for example, there are two rather glaring errors:

First, the author repeatedly claims that Irans' nuclear reactor at the port city of Bushehr (which the book mistakenly refers to as "al-Bashir") is a "breeder reactor" which can be used to make bombs. This is totally false. It is a light-water reactor, which can't even theoretically be used to make bombs because, among other reasons, it doesn't make the weapons-usable plutonium. See: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BEE20060202&articleId=1877
In fact the IAEA has stated that the reactor is not a proliferation concern. See "UN clears Iran nuclear facility"
BBC Online Tuesday, 29 June, 2004.

Second, the author repeatedly states that Iran's claims about needing nuclear energy to substitute for depleted petroleum resources is not believed by "the experts" (he never names these "experts".) In fact, the REAL experts have looked into this matter, and have agreed with Iran's position, which is why the US encouraged Iran's nuclear program in the first place. See "The fuel behind Iran's nuclear drive" by David Isenberg in Asia Times Online Aug 24, 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GH24Ak02.html

It would take another book to refute all the falsehoods in this book! Considering how the Idiot's Guide to the Middle East was faulty and baised too, I have to wonder whether Alpha Publishing needs some new editors and fact-checkers.