{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/69f473ac9dcd58edd9cbb8d8?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Oil, revolution and ayatollahs: how Iran went from great power to rogue state ","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/1777628615593-5175b509-26bf-412a-ab06-03b8d81d819e.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Within living memory, Tehran ruled an oil-rich great power brimming with intellectuals inspired by British democracy. So&nbsp;how did it become an impoverished rogue state at war with the West?</p><p><br></p><p>In this special Bank Holiday edition, Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian history at the University of St Andrews, takes Roland Oliphant through Iran's tumultuous modern era: from the 1906 Constitutional Revolution and the 1953 coup, to the 1979 ousting of the shah and the 2026 US assassination of Ali Khamenei.</p><p><br></p><p>From the blunders of the unlikely \"midwife\" of the modern Iranian state - Great Britain - to the catastrophic decisions of successive Supreme Leaders after the founding of the Islamic Republic, he charts the course that shaped the country Donald Trump is fighting today.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>How do the myths overshadow the facts of the CIA's 1953 coup and the Iran-Iraq war? Why is the regime so obsessed with enriching uranium and fighting Israel and America? And is the UK guilty of betraying Iranian dreams of democracy?</p><p><br></p><p>Plus, how the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company brought association football to Tehran.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Highlights&nbsp;</strong></p><ul><li>Oil, revolution and ayatollahs: how Iran went from great power to rogue state&nbsp;</li><li>Professor Ali Ansari explains 20th-century Iranian history</li></ul><p><br></p><p>CONTRIBUTORS:</p><p><br></p><p>Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant</p><p>Ali Ansari, professor University of St Andrews @aa51_ansari</p><p><br></p><p>CONTENT REFERENCED:</p><p><br></p><p>Part 1: <a href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/03/why-the-iranian-regime-wont-surrender-ali-ansari/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">‘Iran thinks it’s still a great power’: Why the regime won’t surrender</a></p><p>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/03/why-the-iranian-regime-wont-surrender-ali-ansari/</p><p><br></p><p>Producer: Max Bower</p><p>Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey &amp; Louisa Wells</p><p><br></p><p>► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor</p><p><br></p><p>► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk</p><p><br></p><p>► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVU1MHZzbFh1ODdPb3diU3BWZVBIc19ha2Zud3xBQ3Jtc0tsd0o5X2hNT3NrVmI2WHI0UW9pWG5VSUV0YTRvcjZoMWVnYVFuSUNtRldtMWNCaHc0ZXdwdHhTMy1tMGx4Z3F6MEw5YmR2dnhDNFdPWktnVk1SM1c4eW9WZGxJZWNaNEFnd2p6cTZCZTJpOFd0REYzSQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Firan-war%2F&amp;v=Xhjj1S_s7Ik\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/</a></p>","author_name":"The Telegraph"}