In this episode, Dr Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh discusses the research behind his new book, Iranian Women and Gender in the Iran-Iraq War (Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East) (Syracuse University Press, 2021), with Dr Maryam Ghorbankarimi.  In recognition of the upcoming anniversary of the Iran-Iran War (1980-1988) on 22 September, Dr Farzaneh examines the role of women in this conflict and highlights the integral place women have historically played in the arena of warfare and the need to continue research in this field. His book assesses the divergent views Iranian women took in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, in which women of conservative religious backgrounds supported the conquering theocratic regime’s religiously-defined gender roles, while those who had been more active in civil society before the revolution pushed back against the gender biases. Yet despite these ideological differences, both groups became important fixtures in the war efforts during the 1980s as first responders, surgeons, intelligence officers, journalists, and photographers.

Dr Farzaneh, an Iranian native, is an associate professor of history at Northeastern Illinois University, specialising in the history of Iran, the modern Middle East, and Islamic civilisation. He is the author of The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani (Syracuse University Press, 2015).