The reforms and policies implemented by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk following the establishment of the Turkish Republic, has been the subject of heated debates among various segments of the society in Turkey, as they often led to radical and rapid changes in the political, social, economic, and cultural life. However, neither the impact of nor the debates about these reforms and policies were limited to Turkey. The politicians and intellectuals in different parts of the region between 1920s and 1940s were closely following the transformation taking place in Turkey and reacting to it in positive, negative, and sometimes in mixed ways. In this paper, based mostly on memoirs, newspaper columns, and official correspondences, I will examine the responses of Iranian statesmen, officials, and intellectuals to Kemalism in the early republican period. Studying particularly the writings of those who visited or served in Turkey during and shortly after Ataturk’s presidency, such as Muhammad 'Ali Furughi, Abu al-Qasim Azad Maragha'i, Husayn Danish, and Seyyid Tabatabai, I will explore how Iranians critiqued, praised, challenged, or adopted various aspects of Kemalism. Through a nuanced and careful reading of their views about specific principles and practices in Ataturk’s Turkey, I aim to shed new light not only on the ways in which Iranians envisioned their own new state and society, but also on the complex relationship between two seemingly similar yet rival nation-states in their formative years.