Intelligence professional and Substack author Sharon Bibee joins us for this episode, which kicks off our new series "The U.S. and Iran: What Went Wrong." We begin with a discussion of the U.S. response to events in what was then Qajar Persia from 1800 to 1920, a time when Iran was a pawn in the struggle for dominance in the region between the British and Russia Empires. American missionaries play a positive role in our story, and we meet two Americans -- missionary and teacher Howard Baskerville (Iran's "American Lafayette") and lawyer and civil servant William Shuster -- both of whom are celebrated figures in Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911. The British and Russians are at bay by 1920, but not before Iran suffers disasters that include a famine that kills 10 to 20 percent of its population in 1918-1919.
For more from Sharon, read her column, "Redacted No More," in which she explores history, politics, travel, culture, and whatever else sparks her curiosity. You can find it on Substack at https://sharonbibee.substack.com/.
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Rimsky-Korsakov., "Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite, Op. 35, The Young Prince And Princess," the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux, violin solo by Naoum Blinder, from Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rimsky-Korsakov._Scheherazade,_Symphonic_Suite,_Op._35_-_03_The_Young_Prince_And_Princess.ogg) used under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license.
