The election of the hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Iranian Presidency in 2005 shocked the world. In this compelling book, Iran experts Anoush Ehteshami and Mahjoub Zweiri penetrate the labyrinth of Iranian politics and reveal the forces which brought Ahmadinejad to power. They argue that the power base behind Ahmadinejad represents a kind of Iranian version of American neo-conservativism. Politicians and clerics exiled from influence under the reformist President Khatami have seized their chance to get back in to power and push an uncompromising foreign policy agenda. In an analysis which has major implications for US and EU policymakers, Ehteshami and Zweiri examine this group's agenda on issues like Iraq and nuclear enrichment, and assess its strategies for implementing it. Iran and the Rise of Its Neoconservatives is the essential guide to the politics to this turbulent nation, whose importance to world security has never been more keenly felt.