This BBC documentary outlines the events before and after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 which is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict that is still going on today.

This BBC documentary covers the life of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi who was the last “king” of Iran prior to his downfall during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Part 1 of BBC doco by Norma Percy and co on the history and relationship beween Iran and the West.

This episode tells the story of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the key figures involved, in particular the Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini. During the revolution students seized the US embassy in Tehran and held its staff hostage for 444 days. The action and subsequent diplomatic reactions was to be another source of rot in the Iranian-US relationship. It was to change the dynamics of world politics, the staunch position of Iran undermined the image of power that the US had in the world. It would also topple a President – Jimmy Carter. The economic and political situation of today might be a lot better without President Reagan’s legacy.

Part 2 of BBC doco by Norma Percy and co on the history and relationship beween Iran and the West.

Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979 the West no longer had the overthrown Shah to act as a regional policeman for them. When Ayatollah Khomeini took power the amiable relationship between the US and Iran reversed overnight. The ambitious Saddam Hussein saw the revolution and breakdown of order as a golden opportunity to become the regions powerhouse and in 1980 Iraq invaded Iran. What was to follow would be an 8 year war that would devastate both nations, cause around half a million casualties, some of which from chemical weapons.

Iranians expected some kind of reaction from the international community of the crimes of Iraq, but none was forthcoming as the US unofficially supported Iraq with weapons and intelligence.

Part 3 of BBC doco by Norma Percy and co on the history and relationship beween Iran and the West.

This episode focuses on more recent events from the 1990′s to the present day. Economic sanctions by the US on Iran have been in place during this period where Iran has tried to develop it’s nuclear industry. Terrorism and the subsequent US led invasions of Afganistan and Iraq increased the diplomatic tension. Following President Bush’s announcement that Iran was on the “axis of evil” list further worsened relations and another invasion was on the cards.

The documentary shows the efforts of European diplomats to encourage the first baby steps to a compromise between the hardline stance of both American and Iran leaders which would ultimately prove unsuccessful. The weight of this history will make this future challenge all the more difficult.

This BBC documentary by writer and journalist Christopher de Bellaigue explores the history and relationship between Iran and Britain. In the early days Iran, then called Persia was just another colony of the enormous British Empire. When oil was discovered this was to change. World War I taught the British the strategic significance of oil as oil based machines such as tanks, warships and planes proved to be decisive in the new era of warfare. The British government just before the war had bought a 50% share in the Anglo Persian Oil Company (now BP) which meant oil and politics were to become very inter related.

As the oil industry in Iran grew so to did the British dependence on oil and it’s need to control it. The Iranian people themselves also knew this and rightly wanted control of it themselves. This would be the source of contention that caused much of the events since 1950 onwards that would cause much suffering to the Iranian people. The reality of the day was that neither party should of had complete control, but the absolute colonial ways of the British would butt against the equally absolute mindsets of the Iranian leaders and the middle ground could never be reached.

This documentary covers those events and the how both sides view the events. A good watch to start to understand how Iran sees things.

This very concise video explains the back story and roles of the UK and US governments in controlling that of Iran’s to ensure the West and their oil companies had control of Iranian oil. The engineered coup by MI6 and the newly formed CIA (the original document of the plan can be found online) shows the lengths that Britain and the US meddled in world affairs as well as the hypocrisy of all the freedom and democracy rhetoric.

The decision to replace a Prime Minister Mossaddegh, a man of true democratic values with an oppressive monarch was to ultimately backfire. The subsequent suffering and discontent of the Iranian people was to sow the seeds of the Iranian revolution decades later, cause an oil crisis, disrupt the stability of the entire region, catalyse 2 wars as well as keeping the relationships between Iran and the western world borderline hostile. And people wonder why the rest of the world hates the west.

Part 1 of the excellent PBS documentary series based on Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzter winning book “The Prize: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power”. The very long book has an equally long documentary series with eight 52 minute episodes. I thoroughly recommend watching if you would like to understand much of what has gone on in the 20th century. The modern industrialised way of life simply would not be possible without oil and this documentary series explains so much about the economic pecking order of the world today and the power that has come along with it.

The first installment goes back to where the modern oil industry was born, Pennsylvania, USA in 1859. The victor of the gold rush type industry of the day was John D. Rockefeller, the worlds first billionaire and the founder of Standard Oil, the origin of ExxonMobil and Chevron of today. The episode tracks the incredible rise of Standard Oil through his ruthless and legally dubious business practices.

Google video link if you prefer.

Part 2 of the excellent documentary series based on Daniel Yergin’s book “The Prize: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power”.

This episode traces the course of the oil industry outside the United States focusing on the development of Shell and BP in the early years of the 1900′s and the role of oil in World War I.

Part 3 of the excellent documentary series based on Daniel Yergin’s book “The Prize: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power”.

The period between the two world wars was dominated by increased competition between oil companies and the start of the worldwide search for oil. But the massive discoveries in Texas and California would create a massive glut of oil and prices plummeted to almost zero. The big oil companies learnt that oil production would need to be controlled so that supply and demand didn’t become too unbalanced, the future of the industry depended upon it.