This book examines the diplomatic activities and behind-the-scene negotiations which led to the Karun opening, including an 'Assurance' given by Britain to the Shah against a Russian retaliation. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of the region's demography, commerce and industry before the advent of the Karun, and the impact of Britain's political and commercial penetration, which eventually resulted in her total domination of the south. This analytical study of the Anglo-Iranian relationship is unique in its extensive use of primary Persian sources and original material found at the Iranian Foreign Ministry archives which have been accessed by the author for the first time.

This book examines the diplomatic activities and behind-the-scene negotiations which led to the Karun opening, including an 'Assurance' given by Britain to the Shah against a Russian retaliation. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of the region's demography, commerce and industry before the advent of the Karun, and the impact of Britain's political and commercial penetration, which eventually resulted in her total domination of the south. This analytical study of the Anglo-Iranian relationship is unique in its extensive use of primary Persian sources and original material found at the Iranian Foreign Ministry archives which have been accessed by the author for the first time.

Using newly-uncovered private papers, as well as public and private archives in three countries, this book tells the definitive history of the first discovery of oil in Iran - the first discovery of oil in the Middle East. Exploring the formal and informal dealings of politicians, investors, civil servants and intermediaries Leonardo Davoudi charts the development of Persian petroleum from uncertain beginnings to becoming one of Britain's largest oil companies with the British government as its principal shareholder. Assessing the relationship between economic and political forces within the British empire and the relationship of foreign economic forces and domestic political forces in Persia, the book also explores the role of intermediation, informal empire, the Anglo-Russian rivalry over Persia, British naval developments and Persian political developments.

A masterfully researched and compelling history of Iran from 1501 to 2009 This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic. Abbas Amanat combines chronological and thematic approaches, exploring events with lasting implications for modern Iran and the world. Drawing on diverse historical scholarship and emphasizing the twentieth century, he addresses debates about Iran’s culture and politics. Political history is the driving narrative force, given impetus by Amanat's decades of research and study. He layers the book with discussions of literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and society; and cultural identity and heritage.

"Although the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s has been much studied, Ahmadi is opening new avenues by examining the social history of the Iranian border province of Khuzistan. One of the oldest and richest provinces in Iran, its invasion by Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist forces in 1980 triggered the war, but the contested region has a deeper history that sheds light on questions of citizenship, migration, and smuggling vital to the two countries' relationship in the 20th century. Through archival work and oral histories, Ahmadi investigates how border dwellers, provincial leaders, and migrants in the region affected Iran and Iraq's history before, during, and after the war, while studying broader issues of borders and liminality in the region. Although pressured by the government based in Tehran, the inhabitants of Khuzistan nevertheless resisted Iranian nationalistic appeals, as well as attempts to control the border, and instead negotiated local identities and relations amongst themselves as a result of the province's diverse make-up, with a majority of inhabitants composed of Arabs rather than Persians. Migrants or refugees from Iraq were often allowed entrance to the province, and smuggling across the border in both directions was common and seldom restricted. Ahmadi examines the role this transnational movement had in the war and the tactics both countries took to control the oil-rich region, beginning in the 1920s and setting up the role the province would play. Residents were pressured from one side with nationalistic propaganda about their place in the country and with a pan-Arabic argument from the other that sought to separate them from Persian Iran, with provincial leaders trying to obtain the best of both worlds by playing the sides off one another. Ahmadi demonstrates how religious leaders sought to keep the peace, but how some residents were nevertheless radicalized by separatist factions, giving Iraq a toehold in the province and leading to civil unrest after the Islamic Revolution that preceded the invasion. In the meantime, Saddam Hussein expelled Iranians living in Iraq, despite having wooed the Arabs of Khuzistan. Ahmadi explores the nuanced arguments the Ba'athist Party made to distinguish these actions, while also exploring the steps that the new Islamic Republic of Iran took to incorporate Khuzistan into its vision for the country. Last, she examines the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq and the collapse of the Ba'ath Party through the lens of Khuzistan and the consequences for that region"--