Must-See TV for understanding U.S. role in recent Iranian history

On Monday June 22 at 9 p.m, Eastern, the National Geographic Channel will air a new documentary, Iran and the West. About the relationship between Iran and the United States since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the film features interviews with several key players from some of the most significant interactions between the U.S. and Iran over the past thirty years, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, U.S. officials from the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, U.N. diplomats, European negotiators, and even one of the Iranian students who once held American citizens hostage at the American Embassy in Iran.

Filmed in advance of the 2009 Iranian presidential election, the film of course does not focus on the current conflict in Iran, but nevertheless provides valuable background for any Americans wishing to understand how our former dealings with Iran might impact our options in reacting to the current crisis.

I was disappointed that the film failed to give proper context for the flare-up of anti-American sentiment in Iran during the 1979 revolution that displaced Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi; Iran and the West does not explain the U.S. role in helping Shah oust Iran's prime minister during the 1953 Iran coup. And I also found myself wishing the filmmakers had found the time to make more than a passing mention of the Iran-Contra scheme perpetrated by the Reagan Administration. 

But those flaws aside, Iran and the West presents remarkable collection of information from government documents, historical film footage, and many of the real people involved in some of the most definitive moments in U.S. and Iranian interaction during the last three decades. I was frankly amazed at the wealth of high-quality first-person sources the filmmakers convinced to participate in the documentary. What emerges is an honestly tragic tale of mutual suspicion, miscommunication, uneasy cooperation, wounded pride, and several near-miss attempts at a diplomatic resolution that came surprisingly close to success, only to be torpedoed by a missed opportunity or a ham-fisted breach of protocol (*cough I'm looking at you John Bolton and Richard Haass *cough*). 

Painting a complex, nuanced portrait of Iran in the context of its interactions with the United States, this film offers important information about the history of U.S.-Iranian relations that many Americans may not know. If you're looking for a quick primer on Iran that will help you understand the current post-election climate in the country, watch Iran in the West on Monday.

(But be sure you read up on the 1953 Iran coup first.) 

Image source: Carter Presidential Library