Masoud: Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel

Growing up in the aftermath of the 1953 CIA coup in Iran exposed the young Masoud Banisadr to extremes of wealth and poverty, loyalty and betrayal.

Years later in the United Kingdom, where Banisadr had gone to do postgraduate study, he decided to join the Iranian Mojahedin, an organization fighting to dislodge the regime that came to power following the 1979 revolution.

Torn between two loves – his family and the cause – Masoud gave up normal life to pursue the revolution. But it wasn’t long before the dream turned sour. The Mojahedin’s revolutionary fervour demanded more than total sacrifice: he was pressured to divorce his beloved wife, alienate himself from his family and career, and remain separated for over a decade from his children.

Years later, following his defection from the organization, Masoud has decided to tell his story.

Masoud is a story unlike any other to come out of Iran in modern times; at once a passionate and terrifying account of one man’s revolutionary journey, it is also a poignant warning against the dangers of extremism.

Masoud Banisadr was born in Tehran in 1953. In 1976 he travelled to the UK, where he obtained postgraduate degrees in Engineering-Mathematics. Banisadr joined the Mojahedin in 1979, defecting from the organization in 1996. He lives in London.