Please click the photo above for a slideshow of Peterson working in Iran

Former Highline Times paperboy and summer reporting intern Scott Peterson, now Middle East correspondent for the Christian Scientist Monitor, is returning to the area Aug. 11 for a book signing at Burien Books, 824 S.W. 152nd St, from 4-6 p.m.

He will be promoting his book "Let the Swords Encircle me: Iran - A Journey Behind the Headlines," which was released in October 2010.
The book documents historical, political, and religious analyses of the Iranian government and the Iranian people as seen from Peterson's perspective.

Peterson recalled that working at the Highline Times with publisher Jerry Robinson and editor Jeanne Sweeney was his first professional journalism experience.

"That newsroom was ideal for gaining experience because it was a real newspaper with deadlines and talking to real people. It gave me a great opportunity and I was grateful that I could do something locally," Peterson declared.

Recalling how he came to write his book, Peterson said, "After 9-11, which took place while I was in Moscow, every correspondent that was involved in the Middle East was called back there. I just happened to have been involved in Iraq since 1991,

"Even though I was based in Moscow, the events in the Middle East were much more striking." Subsequently, he was stationed in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was in much closer proximity to the Middle East and could better cover the events unfolding in the early and mid 2000's.

As of the present, Peterson says that "I've had the pleasure to have Iran on my 'beat' on three of my trips to the Middle East."

The experience these trips have afforded him are in his book, he says.

"This book takes readers right up to date on what's happening in Iran, and Americans especially should understand this," Peterson said.

By this, Peterson says that there is a lot of depth to the Iranian people that Americans are unable to see. "You see many alarmist headlines [about Iran in America], but there is so much more to Iran than those headlines," he declared.

In addition to Iran's current situation, Peterson also addresses how they got where they are, as well as the political and cultural demands of the people.

"Many Iranians are locked in a battle with their own Islamic government," Peterson explained. "If you ask Iranians, the vast majority of them are certain they want to bring about democratic change, but they want to do it on their own."

In his book, Peterson also recounts Iran's history back through it's revolution in 1979, and how the nation has developed since. In particular, he focuses on the schism between the Iranian people and their government.

"Iran's government is anti-America, but the Iranian people are the most pro-American in the whole Middle East. Not pro-American policy, but they like American films, ideals, and the freedoms we enjoy," he said.

Peterson is finally coming back to the Highline area to share what he's learned, and after that, he's headed back for the next breaking headline.