American Roots of Persian Nationalism and Modern Iran

This post was written by Dr. Art Pitz on July 7, 2009
Posted Under: International Relations, Middle East

At the time of the Kajar dynasty, the U.S. had very positive relations with Iran, and individual Americans played important roles in the development of Persian nationalism and modern Iran. For example, American land grant colleges were the model for Iranian education. Americans like Dr. Samuel Martin Jordan and Jane Doolittle created a very positive image of Americans. At the Tehran Conference, FDR helped guarantee the territorial integrity and political sovereignty of the government of Iran. It’s worth remembering that until the 1950’s, the U.S. enjoyed good relations with Iran. I hope you’ll take time to watch this short video with more of this story. I’ll get to the story of how things fell apart next time. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.