"In 1979, Islamic revolutionaries set out to create a new kind of state from the ashes of the Shah's U.S.-backed monarchy - one that was both religious and democratic. But the result was the modern world's first theocracy, an authoritarian state run by conservative clerics.".

"Hope emerged for a republic accountable to Iran's 62 million people with the landslide election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997. Like Islamic reformers throughout history, Khatami argued that the needs of modern Muslims could be met if reason and rationality were introduced into the practice of the faith. His ideas energized other parts of the Muslim world yearning for free expression, the rule of law, religious and political tolerance, and increased participation among women and minorities.

The promised land of the modern Islamic movement, the founding of a true Islamic republic, suddenly appeared within reach.".

"Geneive Abdo and Jonathan Lyons, experienced Middle East correspondents, felt the same tug, arriving in Tehran ten months after Khatami took office to document Iran's rebirth. Instead, they found themselves chronicling the collapse of this republican ideal under the weight of Iran's religious and social traditions. Answering Only to God gives readers an inside look at this secretive society and its battle for the true faith.

It is a struggle that has plagued the Islamic Republic from birth: Is it a Shi'ite Muslim state ruled by clerics, or a republic ruled by the people? Unable to resolve this conflict, the clerical establishment has come to rely on repression to maintain power. Yet such despotism flies in the face of traditional Shi'ite Muslim practice, just as it shatters the dreams of millions of Iranians for a society that is both religious and free."--BOOK JACKET.