Aug 9, 2026 · 1 hr 15 min · 13 segments
Why does every empire want Iran – and how has Iran outlasted attempts to control it? Long before the CIA-backed coup, there were wars with Russia and British control over oil and tobacco. Iran learned…
Mehran KamravaGuestMohamed HassanHostYou are prolific, and a lot of it is looking very deeply at the history of this region and also the history of Iran.
Throughout history, and we've seen this maybe more starkly over the last hundred, hundred and fifty years, it has become this place that is fought over by great powers, and that is because of resources, and that's because of, uh, its geographic location.
When does this part of the world suddenly become of interest to these powers, whether they're in the West or in Russia?
Well, th-this part of the world has always been of interest, uh, but the reasons for that interest have changed.
So what we see over the last a hundred years or so is the, uh, discovery of the black gold, oil, and that discovery happened to kind of slightly predate, uh, the f- uh, the switchover of the British Navy from burning coal to burning petroleum.
And so by the time you come into the early 1900s and when the British Navy has made that switch, and, uh, that's when the British Navy is ruling the seas, and that's when the sun never sets on the British Empire, being so vast and expansive, that the strategic importance of this region, uh, assumed new dimensions.
Why is that? What m- is it about Iran that, that makes it, um, so alive with all of this-
I think part of the reason is, uh, lack of a robust central authority that has historically lent itself to the country being invaded and occupied and raided, um, in one form or another.
Iranians today, um, and particularly the political elite, take tremendous pride in the fact that Iran has not invaded a country-
And oftentimes historians debate whether or not this is a good thing because, okay, Iran has not invaded anyone-
You are prolific, and a lot of it is looking very deeply at the history of this region and also the history of Iran.
Throughout history, and we've seen this maybe more starkly over the last hundred, hundred and fifty years, it has become this place that is fought over by great powers, and that is because of resources, and that's because of, uh, its geographic location.
When does this part of the world suddenly become of interest to these powers, whether they're in the West or in Russia?
Well, th-this part of the world has always been of interest, uh, but the reasons for that interest have changed.
So what we see over the last a hundred years or so is the, uh, discovery of the black gold, oil, and that discovery happened to kind of slightly predate, uh, the f- uh, the switchover of the British Navy from burning coal to burning petroleum.
And so by the time you come into the early 1900s and when the British Navy has made that switch, and, uh, that's when the British Navy is ruling the seas, and that's when the sun never sets on the British Empire, being so vast and expansive, that the strategic importance of this region, uh, assumed new dimensions.
Why is that? What m- is it about Iran that, that makes it, um, so alive with all of this-
I think part of the reason is, uh, lack of a robust central authority that has historically lent itself to the country being invaded and occupied and raided, um, in one form or another.
Iranians today, um, and particularly the political elite, take tremendous pride in the fact that Iran has not invaded a country-
And oftentimes historians debate whether or not this is a good thing because, okay, Iran has not invaded anyone-
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.