Mosaddegh nationalized Iran's oil industry in 1951, threatening Western control of the country's resources

Mohammad Mosaddegh was ousted in a CIA-backed coup in 1953

Iran's democratically elected prime minister, Mosaddegh, nationalized the country's oil industry in 1951, challenging British and American control of Iran's resources. The CIA and British intelligence orchestrated a coup that ousted him and reinstated the Shah, fueling decades of Iranian distrust of the West.

Oil nationalization triggered the CIA‑backed 1953 coup in Iran

NPR's Four Days in August podcast recounts the four days of covert CIA‑UK operations in Iran that toppled Prime Minister Mossadegh in August 1953. Threats of Iranian oil nationalization were a major driver of the decision to facilitate regime change.

Iran's 1979 revolution sparked a second oil shock—and reconfigured global energy markets.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ruled Iran for nearly four decades before being ousted by the revolution

The last Shah of Iran came to power in 1941 and pursued rapid Westernization through his controversial reforms. His authoritarian rule, backed by the US, and his feared secret police, SAVAK, fueled mass resentment that ultimately drove him from power in 1979.

Iran became a constitutional monarchy in 1906

A popular revolution forced the ruling Qajar Shah—a dynasty that had governed Iran since the late 18th century—to sign a constitution and establish a parliament, marking Iran's first major step toward democratic governance and limiting the monarchy's absolute power.

Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, drawing the new Islamic Republic into a devastating eight-year war

Just a year after the revolution, Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, hoping to exploit its post-revolutionary instability. The brutal conflict killed hundreds of thousands in one of the century's deadliest conflicts and forced Khomeini's government to consolidate power.

Iranians voted overwhelmingly to establish an Islamic Republic in March 1979

Just weeks after Khomeini's return, Iran held a national referendum to replace the monarchy with an Islamic Republic, and over 98% voted in favor (though the vote was criticized). The vote formalized the revolution's outcome, laying the foundation for a theocratic government that remains in place today.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution inspired other Islamist movements and alarmed Sunni governments

By establishing the world's first modern Islamic theocracy, the revolution inspired Islamist movements across the region and alarmed Sunni Arab governments. The resulting rivalry between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia has since fueled proxy conflicts in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen that persist today.

Persia was officially called Iran by the international community in 1935

At the request of Reza Shah, the international community began using "Iran"—the name Iranians had always called their country—replacing the Western term "Persia." The change reflected a broader push for national identity and modernization under the Pahlavi dynasty.

See a timeline of the events that shaped the Iranian Revolution

From a defamatory newspaper editorial that sparked protests in January 1978 to Khomeini's return from exile and the Shah's flight from Iran in 1979, this timeline traces the rapidly escalating chain of events—protests, crackdowns, and political collapses—that toppled one of the Middle East's most powerful monarchies.

Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran on Feb. 1, 1979, after 14 years in exile

Greeted by millions of Iranians flooding the streets of Tehran, Khomeini's return was a defining moment of the revolution. Within days, he appointed a rival prime minister, effectively dismantling the last remnants of the Shah's government and consolidating clerical rule over the new Islamic Republic.

The Shah fled Iran in January 1979, ending nearly 38 years of Pahlavi rule

On Jan. 16, 1979, Mohammad Reza Shah left Iran with his wife, officially for a "vacation"—one he would never return from. His departure marked the effective collapse of the monarchy, as millions celebrated in the streets and power swiftly shifted to Khomeini's revolutionary movement.

In 1979, Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days

Outraged by the US decision to allow the exiled Shah to enter the United States for medical treatment, student protesters stormed the embassy in November 1979. The crisis paralyzed the Carter presidency and ended with a negotiated release on the day of Ronald Reagan's inauguration.

Ayatollah Khomeini led the ideological opposition to the Shah from exile

Exiled in 1964 for opposing a law that granted diplomatic immunity to US military personnel in Iran, Khomeini built a large following by smuggling recorded sermons into Iran on cassette tapes. He aimed to replace the monarchy with an Islamic republic governed by religious law.

OPEC's 1973 embargo sparked the first global energy shock.

The Iranian Revolution relied largely on nonviolent tactics

Despite thousands of unarmed protesters killed by the Shah's forces, the revolution relied overwhelmingly on nonviolent tactics, including strikes, demonstrations, and civil disobedience, with up to 9 million Iranians peacefully taking to the streets, making it one of history's largest protest movements by population percentage.

The 1973 oil embargo by OPEC inspired advances in alternative energy technology

The shortages imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) created a global energy crisis and economic instability after the Arab-Israeli War. This led to investments in green technologies and improvements in automobile fuel efficiency and manufacturing.

Ayatollah Khamenei ruled Iran for 36 years after succeeding Khomeini as Supreme Leader

When Khomeini died in 1989, Ali Khamenei was appointed acting supreme leader on the same day. He served in this position until his death in February 2026, shaping Iran for nearly four decades.

A report found that the 2026 Iran war is the largest oil supply disruption in history.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps became one of the most powerful forces in the Middle East

Created after the 1979 revolution to protect the new Islamic Republic, the IRGC grew into a force that controls Iran's ballistic missile arsenal, funds, and arms regional proxy groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and answers directly to the supreme leader.

Iran-Iraq war drained over $1T from the combined economies of Iran and Iraq

Across eight years (1980-88), Iran and Iraq each lost about $500 B in GDP, infrastructure destruction, military expenses, disrupted oil exports, and mounting debt—totaling over $1 T in economic damage.

The Shah used torture and other human rights abuses to maintain power before the revolution

A declassified 1976 US Embassy telegram acknowledged that the Shah held 3,400-3,500 political prisoners, documented torture allegations against the SAVAK secret police, and confirmed press censorship, even as American diplomats sought to minimize human rights concerns for Congress.

Oil's legacy: fueling industrial growth and shaping imperial strategies

This episode of The Rest Is History podcast traces oil's pivotal role—from fueling industrial growth to steering imperial power. It also examines how access to oil shaped US politics, World War II, and sparked the creation of OPEC following the Suez Crisis.

Oil shocks, war, and the 1970s crisis that remade American energy and economics

The oil crises of the 1970s—fueled by Middle East conflict and OPEC's dominance—triggered inflation, price controls, and policy failure. But they also accelerated fracking, alternative energy, and the rise of free-market economics.

The 1967 war was the first use of oil as a geopolitical weapon

Following the June 1967 Arab–Israeli war, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, and Algeria embargoed oil shipments to the US, UK, and West Germany. While the move did not have a large impact, it reshaped global oil flows, and foreshadowed OAPEC's later actions.

Beyond oil, the Iran war has pushed up costs on fertilizer, prescriptions, and mortgages.

Why have gas prices surged nearly 27% since the Iran war began?

Oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz makes up only about 7% of US crude imports. However, crude oil prices account for 51% of the cost of a gallon of gas in the US. US refiners pay the Brent crude futures price, even for domestic drilling.

'Velayat-e faqih' is the religious doctrine that has governed Iran since the 1979 revolution

Meaning "guardianship of the Islamic jurist," the doctrine transfers all political and religious authority to the Shia clergy, with the supreme leader holding ultimate power over the state. Developed by Khomeini in the 1970s, it has served as the foundation of Iran's government since the revolution.

Hear how the US and Iran went from close allies to bitter adversaries after the 1979 revolution.

The UN found that the Islamic Republic of Iran used genocidal tactics after the revolution

A 2024 report classified Iran's mass executions of political prisoners in the 1980s as genocide and crimes against humanity, finding that thousands were arbitrarily killed under Khomeini's orders by "death committees" targeting perceived religious and political enemies.

OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has grown from five to 12 members since 1960.

The Seven Sisters were a dominant midcentury Western oil consortium

Amid the fallout of World War II, Western multinational corporations expanded their control of the production of oil across the oil-rich Middle East, earning the pejorative nickname of the Seven Sisters. In the 1970s, the group’s role diminished as nationalist movements pursued sovereign control of the oil.

The primary language in Iran is Persian, also called Farsi

Spoken by the majority of Iran's 90 million people, Persian is one of the world's oldest continuously spoken languages, with a literary tradition stretching back over a thousand years. It is also widely spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Air pollution in war-torn Iran unleashes invisible toxic threats

Burning oil depots and bombed buildings are endangering the health of millions of people during the 2026 attacks. Heavy metals from munitions and other damaged materials are going airborne, but the exact health implications depends on dose, wind currents, and other factors including preexisting health conditions.

OPEC often intervenes to influence the price of oil

This guide explains how investing in oil works with in-depth explanations of each of the forces that control oil’s price. Oil is unique as a commodity in part because of OPEC’s role in regulating its price.

See a timeline that shows how volatile oil prices have been for decades, from OPEC-led embargoes in the 1970s and shale surges in the 2000s to the US flipping to become a net oil exporter in 2020.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor largely because it was running out of oil

This video traces how US-led sanctions and Japan’s near-total dependence on imported oil pushed Japanese leaders toward a high-risk plan: seize Southeast Asian oil fields and neutralize the American Pacific Fleet, hoping Washington would negotiate rather than fight.

The recorded history of crude oil use dates back about 5,000 years, with the Babylonians using it to waterproof their boats and as mortar in the construction of structures.

See how the rivalry between Iran and Israel has remade the Middle East

This 2025 documentary explores how the relationship between Iran, Israel, and the United States has shaped Middle Eastern geopolitics for decades. The film covers events leading up to and following the 2025 12-day war involving these nations.

Six American diplomats secretly hid in the Canadian Embassy for months after escaping the hostage crisis

When Iranian students seized the US Embassy, six Americans slipped away and took refuge with the Canadian Ambassador. The CIA orchestrated a daring escape under the cover of a fake film crew—later depicted in the Academy Award-winning film "Argo."

The 2007 animated film 'Persepolis' captures the Iranian Revolution through a child's eyes

The critically acclaimed film, based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoir, traces Iran's transformation from the Shah's rule through the revolution and its turbulent aftermath, showing how seismic political change shapes ordinary lives.

Salman Rushdie's 1988 religious satire, 'The Satanic Verses,' led to a government-sponsored death threat from Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Trace the rise of oil: from early drilling to today’s global power

This animated map video vividly illustrates how petroleum shaped global politics and industry—from 18th-century uses and 19th-century drilling booms in North America to today’s OPEC strategies, shale revolution, and geopolitical oil influence.

OPEC can roll out production cuts among its members to control oil’s global supply and price

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was created to coordinate and unify petroleum policies to secure fair and stable prices. During the pandemic, for instance, the organization pushed through production cuts in an attempt to stabilize prices.

Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait to seize its oil amid Iraq’s debt crisis

This video explores how economic pressures—like rising debt and oil disputes—combined with political ambitions pushed Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, to invade Kuwait on August 2, 1990, triggering the Gulf War.

Explore a timeline of US dependence on crude oil from 1850 to 2023

Oil dependence began with the rise of oil as a commodity, followed by an era of geopolitical competition for the resource after World War II. The domestic fracking boom, which started around 2006, was driven by a desire to reduce the nation's dependence on international adversaries for energy.

Lessons from the 1973 energy crisis still echo in today’s geopolitical battles over oil

The video from the Economist highlights how energy supply disruptions can be weaponized—just as in 1973, today’s gas cutoffs (Russia throttling supplies to Europe after their invasion of Ukraine) reveal the ongoing importance of strategic energy resilience.

Standard Oil's predatory business practices included temporarily operating at a loss to drive competitors out of business

Rockefeller's oil monopoly had a dark side, including cutting oil prices so low that Standard Oil was sometimes temporarily operating at a loss in order to drive competitors out of business.

1970s U.S. energy crisis sparked waves of green innovation

Faced with the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the U.S. responded with bold innovation—enacting a 55 mph speed limit, pioneering daylight saving time, boosting solar research, expanding nuclear power, and pushing energy-efficient building designs and automotive technologies

View a breakdown of worldwide oil production since 1900, mostly led by the US

When analyzing the production of crude oil, shale oil, oil sands, and condensates since the start of the 20th century, Saudi Arabia produced more crude oil only in 1977, from 1979 to 1981, and from 1991 to 2016. Nations such as Iraq and the United Arab Emirates produced much smaller quantities than both Saudi Arabia and the US.