Redwood

In 1981, Iran remains unstable after the revolution that overthrew the shah, while the Soviet Union considers how to exploit the new regime’s vulnerability. A highly placed double agent known to MI6 as Redwood provides intelligence indicating that the Kremlin is preparing a covert attempt to take control of Iran and alter the strategic balance of the Cold War.

The information reaches British and American decision-makers at a moment when a Soviet move could trigger a nuclear response. Macintyre reconstructs the agent’s access, motives and intelligence from archives and interviews, showing how espionage inside the KGB intersected with the Iranian Revolution and the risk of direct confrontation between the superpowers.