Related Topics

• Iran
• Radical Islam

Middle East Quarterly

• Jail for Iranian Journalists
  by Arash Sigarchi
• Iran's Revolutionary Guards - A Rogue Outfit?
  by Michael Rubin

Get Involved with the MEF

• Campus Activities
• Donations
• Employment & Internships

Articles by MEF Staff

• Obama or McCain, Iran stance won't change
  by Michael Rubin
• Boxed In: Containing a Nuclear Iran
  by Michael Rubin

MEF Wires

• "My Pentagon Years"
  by Douglas J. Feith
• What's at Stake for the West in Lebanon?
  by David Wurmser

Forthcoming Events

• Andrew McCarthy:
  Willful Blindness: Memoir of the Jihad
  

Press Releases

• Irfan Yusuf Apologizes Again to Daniel Pipes
  October 1
• Irfan Yusuf Apologizes to Daniel Pipes
  September 17

Most Viewed Articles

1. Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an
2. Iran's Revolutionary Guards - A Rogue Outfit?
3. Beheading in the Name of Islam
4. The Middle East's Tribal DNA
5. Ahmadinejad and the Mahdi

Most Mailed Articles

1. Obama or McCain, Iran stance won't change
2. Iran's Revolutionary Guards - A Rogue Outfit?
3. The Middle East's Tribal DNA
4. Does Islam Justify Honor Killings?
5. Sharia Law: Coming to a Western Nation Near You?

SPRING 2002 • VOLUME IX: NUMBER 2

Subscribe   |    Archive   |    Submit Manuscript   |    Board of Editors   |    Contact Editor   |

Into the Shadows
Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran

by Michael Rubin
Washington, D.C.: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001. 123 pp. $19.95, paper.

Reviewed by Jonathan Schanzer

Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2002

Print

Send

RSS

Into the Shadows is a stark reminder of how radical elements from Iran's Islamic Republic have helped foster the global network of militant Islam for over two decades. Despite efforts to liberalize, Iran cannot break with its past and remains a hub for Islamists worldwide. The blame, in Rubin's view, falls squarely on Iran's mullahs and their vigilante groups.

Rubin, who has spent time in Iran, finds that these vigilante groups are directly sponsored by Iran's hardline clerics. Their activities ensure that Iran remains a breeding ground for militant Islam. His excellent study documents the activities of today's vigilante groups (Ansar-i Hizbullah, the Sa‘id Imami Gang, and Fiday'iyan-i Islam) as well as those that enforced Islamic extremism in the days immediately following the Islamic revolution (Hujjatiyyah, Students Following the Line of the Imam, and the Mehdi Hashemi Gang). The members of these groups, interestingly, have a history of moving freely from one group to another within the radical Iranian network.

American policy toward Iran and these groups is on track, writes Rubin. Despite some warming in recent years, Iran remains a rogue regime in Washington's eyes. So, although these radical groups represent only a small minority of the population, the U.S. government holds Iran accountable for the entirety of their actions. Rubin holds that America must stay the course of sanctions and cool relations. If Iran is to truly evolve, moderates must have an incentive to reverse the poisonous influence of radicals who continue to stymie Iran's democratic development and support world terror.

Related Topics: Iran, Radical Islam

To receive articles regularly by email, join the MEF News mailing list.
To receive the full, printed version of the Middle East Quarterly, please see details about an affordable subscription.

Related Items

• Other items from the Spring 2002 Middle East Quarterly
• Other items by Jonathan Schanzer