In this important and disturbing book, Ervand Abrahamian investigates the role of torture in recent Iranian politics.
Although Iran officially banned torture in the early twentieth century. Abrahamian documents its use under the Shahs and the widespread employment of torture and public confession by the Islamic Republican governments "Voluntary confessions" have become a primary propaganda tool of the Iranian government owing to the accessibility of television and use of videotape.
Designed to win the hearts and minds of the masses, such public confessions-now enhanced by technology-continue as a means to legitimize those in power and to demonize "the enemy." Abrahamian compares Iran's public recantations to campaigns in Maoist China and Stalinist Russia, and to the religious inquisitions of early modern Europe, citing cerie resemblance in format, language, and imagery.
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