Machine summary:
In the preface the author poses two questions: What has been the overall policy of the theocratic Islamic state toward its non-Muslim religious minorities?
In the introduction the author makes the sharp distinction between the recognized religious minorities (Armenians, Assyrians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) and the excluded groups (the Baha'Is and Muslim converts to Christianity).
e. , differing relations with Shi'a authorities, here examining the pre-1979 context; "Perpetual clerical bigotry"; "Nationalist xenophobia": from the 1930s to the 1970s; Book Reviews "Two faces of the era of the shahs": homogenization of Iranian religious minorities alongside their overall lack of visibility.
Chapter 2, "The Assembly of Experts: Debut in the Year of Destiny," reflects on the ideological impetus and direction of the revolution through a painstaking analysis of the role of the four non-Muslim deputies (Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian) in the process of shaping the Iranian Constitution.
Sansarian brings out the differing political measures of acceptability by exploring policies within the following spheres of recognized religious minority operation: religion, education, communal life, and political representation.
Sansarian adopts a psychological framework to explore the severity of treatment meted out to Jews (although a recognized minority), the persecution of Baha'Is, and the situation of nonethnic Christian groups (i.
Sansarian identifies the common practice among some of the groups of bartering public shows of obedience for continued protection by the state, and how this was in fact indicative of the perilous situation for these minorities.