Whether as a haven of exotic sensuality or a stronghold of fanatic religiosity, Iran has, since ancient times, inflamed the popular imagination. Memories of the millennial dynasties of the shahs echo in the minds of onlookers with the convulsive days of the revolution. In the past months alone, Iran has appeared in the news almost daily: nuclear threats, conservative onslaughts, Islamic clampdowns, mock trials, and political assasinations. Yet there seems to be so little that Americans actually know about Iran, and decade after decade, the misunderstandings live on...

At the heart of the profound distrust between Iran and the "West" are several ideological and historical factors. First, there is the Islamic Republic's alleged, and somewhat theatrical, unwillingness to negotiate a lasting dialogue with Amercia and Western Europe...

What, then, is this elusive Persian identity? And in the words of the eighteenth-century French philosopher Montesquieu, "How can one be Persian?"

[from the introduction to My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes]