Coup Against Democracy: Iran 70 Years On

Dr Afshin Shahi is an associate professor (senior lecturer) in Middle East politics and international relations at Keele University. Prior to joining the School of Social, Political, and Global Studies in 2023, he worked at the universities of Durham, Exeter, and Bradford. In 2018 he was a visiting research fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. His research interests encompass Iranian politics, climate change and conflict, sectarianism, and political Islam in the Middle East. His articles have appeared in scholarly outlets including the Middle East Journal, the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, and the Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. He is the author of the Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia and the co-author of a forthcoming book, Iran: the Shia State and the Sunni Minority. For about four years he was an associate editor of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. He is a regular contributor to national and global media outlets including the BBC and Aljazeera. In 2017, he was a recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement at the University of Bradford.

Saeed Khan is Senior Lecturer in Near East & Asian Studies and Global Studies at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. He is also the co-founder of the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding, and a panelist on Turning Point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Javaad Alipoor is a British-Iranian writer, director, and performer who founded The Javaad Alipoor Company in 2019. His latest work, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, received five-star reviews and sold-out audiences at Battersea Arts Centre and HOME, Manchester, before touring internationally.

Alipoor’s previous work includes writing, co-directing, and performing in The Believers Are But Brothers. He also co-created Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran, which won a Fringe First Award and later transformed into a digital experience during the COVID-19 lockdown, touring to Sundance Film Festival and The Public Theatre’s Under the Radar Festival.

Alipoor has held directing positions at Sheffield Theatres and Bradford’s Theatre in the Mill. Additionally, he is an activist and political writer, co-founding several organizations and contributing to major publications.