Ali Dashti liked to claim, in a somewhat self-deprecating manner, that he was "e;really only a politician who just happen[ed] to have filled some pages with myths andfantasies on the side. He was being too modest since over the years he produced more than twenty unique books and hundreds of articles, op-ed pieces, and essays. Also, as a journalist, he established the newspaper Red Dawn in which he voiced his opinions in a very candid and fearless manner. Ali Dashti s political views carried enormous weight in Iran during the 1940s. His prestige was such that he enjoyed the trust of both the government and the elite ofIran. As an elected member of Parliament, and later a senator, he became involved in the sensitive political affairs of the Pahlavi era. Dashti s works are considered unique for their wide-ranging insights, their perceptiveness, their expressions of his passion for social justice, and their classicalclarity, qualities that mark Dashti as a pioneer in modern Iranian literature of such a style of writing. Jaadoo
