The US backed an autocrat in 1953. Shah-nanigans ensued

[@JackRackam]

Go to ground.news/jack to avoid propaganda and bias in the media. Sign up or subscribe using the link here before Sept 30, 2023 for 30% off unlimited access!

[@JNSP-kk7py]

hi

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

You're awesome man! Please do Edward iii

[@rezakarampour6286]

👍✌

[@brokenbridge6316]

Great video. I wonder who you'll do next Jack.

[@Samm815]

This is the reason I hate revolutionaries, it's because I fear reactionaries.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

Jack, you gotta cover the insanity of Mexican President Santa Anna being president and exiled from Mexico 11 times.

[@johnnygyro2295]

I'm sorry, eleven times?!

[@adamlubben2504]

yeah he traded it back and forth between him and some other dude

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

@@johnnygyro2295 oh yeah, in between getting captured in the Texan Revolution, having his wooden leg captured(and still on display) to the US Marines in the Mexican American War and a whole lot of other chicanery the man was a living meme.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

@@adamlubben2504 I'm not sure if it's more impressive or laughable that he managed to get back into the Presidency eleven times after multiple exiles and fiascos.

[@Titus921]

Not only was he a bad statesmen but a bad military leader he was the reason why Mexico loss Texas and sold more land to the US for his own political agenda the men was just simply awful and turn to shit on everything he was involve in.

[@pearlstar5323]

Did not expect a sequel this quickly, fully expected a 5 year wait like the French history series.

[@sanku1999]

Uncharted territory and all that. No one seems to be covering this topic so it's more good for us viewers.

[@fedoramaster6035]

Well I mean. He did promise the Iranian revolution series about two years ago lol. I honestly thought he just wasn’t going to ever do it.

[@pearlstar5323]

wow didn't expect this comment to blow up lol.

[@azlanadil3646]

Well, this is arguably much more important to understanding the modern world than the French Revolution.

[@pearlstar5323]

Oh, I agree and not just because my parents lived through this in Iran and its been discussed and talked about throughout my life. But I wasn't referring to Jack's french revolution but his very first video on French wars of religion back 5 years ago. He came back to the series with Catherine this year. @@azlanadil3646

[@alirezaee8862]

As an Iranian I must say your Khomeini portrayal was on point, Bravo. This series was overall great 👍

[@Jack-me7kl]

It ain't done. If you'll notice, Carter was still the president when the video ended.

[@bumblebeeeoptimus]

Hope you guys can one day be free again. Iran has the best people, but the worst government in the world. 🫤

[@dfv2060]

@bumblebeeeoptimus sadly no one has any interest in our freedom except..well.. us. We have no genuine allies.

[@alirezaee8862]

@@dfv2060 Agreed.

[@edwardhanson3664]

I briefly worked with a group of Persians (their preferred label) working as geologic engineers. Brilliant and friendly guys. Better to work with than the occasional Air Force rednecks I encountered.

[@ryancialone3045]

I’m glad people are starting to recognize the historical impact The Sopranos and it’s characters had on the world.

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

Oh is that why he randomly shoots that guy that says he saved him? I figured he made that up

[@louthegiantcookie]

He should have tried to fool the Ayatollah by transforming into a house!

[@VampireNewl]

20 Years

[@Bakersmanbakemeacake]

Get off my stoop

[@Zeruel3]

He never had the makings of a varsity Shahanshah

[@Ali-bu6lo]

The part where Khomeini said he feels nothing about returning home isn't a joke guys, he really said I feel nothing, speaks volumes of his love for Iran.

[@t.a4141]

or he s like : what the hell you want me to say ? plus he was being sarcastic ( in his own way ).

[@ZeroNumerous]

@@t.a4141 "I'm glad to be home" would be a good start. You know, literally any love for his homeland.

[@aulaw2011]

Wasn't it an American reporter that asked him that in Paris?

[@yeahokbuddy2510]

@@ZeroNumeroushe’s a Muslim first and Nationalist second

[@SandraNwankwo-wg8vb]

Why go thru all the trouble of kicking out the Shah if he felt nothing for Iran?

[@otavioluis5774]

"The US backed an autocrat in 1953. Shah-nanigans ensued" Do You Have the Slightest Idea How Little That Narrows Down?

[@michaelciemnoczolowski9051]

Now now now: there weren't any "shahs" in Latin America...or Africa...or Southeast Asia...OR even all the other parts of the Middle East.

[@Haka-f3k-u]

*laughs in McGinnnis*

[@stevencooper4422]

I thought it was Chile at first 😅

[@SuhbanIo]

@@stevencooper4422 "shah"

[@alexv3357]

As shameful as my own country's actions here were, let's never forget the role the British played in the coup. US assistance was basically all at their behest in the interest of British Petroleum

[@ProjectEkerTest33]

Like father like son

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@ProjectEkerTest33 More like son doing the father a favor.

[@gandalf_thegrey]

That's also a way to pretend you are at no fault. My brother in Christ, the mid 50s are the time you decided the British don't have their own foreign policy anymore. You backed that dictatorship because you NEEDED to dick measure with the Russians for almost 5 decades.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

The C.I.A. took over. The British just had their oil interests.

[@Ali-bu6lo]

Well as an Iranian I wished you forget that because it seems it has become a way to justify your current policy of appeasement with the Islamic regime and throwing Iranian people who want this regime gone under the bus.

[@Sr.Pirulito]

Great video, I especially liked the ending speach of how we should be wary of populists who discourse is primarily oppositional.

[@bottasheimfe5750]

gotta love the way you described Iran after the revolution. "biggest export is human rights violations" lol

[@namebrandmason]

So APPARENTLY the Shah actually bounced around for a few years, but no country wanted to grant him asylum. For a time he settled in Panama. The Panamanian dictator reportedly disliked him, but was under pressure from the US to keep him in Panama. He relented, but appointed a diehard Marxist to be his chief bodyguard. The bodyguard took great delight in lecturing the Shah on how he was a tool of American Imperialism who deserved his fate.

[@IRosamelia]

Dude, I LOVE this anecdote! 😅

[@addyred1861]

Bro...no idea😂😂😂

[@callumjohnston858]

That's the pettiest punishment I've ever heard a dictator give and I love it. Imagine if Napoleon had to live on the island with a royalist explaining why he was wrong.

[@joundii3100]

Absolutely based

[@liviuadrian1101]

​@@callumjohnston858 more like the royalist was stuck with a revolutionary (emperor???) explaining why monarchies were living in borrowed time

[@sphenodon2016]

Saw the title, saw the pun, clicked faster than I ever had in my life. god bless you for making such educational content so darn fun

[@sieroom1914]

Bro you really did a deep research. As an Iranian I can confirm that many of these speeches were happened 😂😂 Specially those from Khomeini 😂

[@thatindiandude4602]

But why did Khomeini come across like a mafia boss instead of an religious teacher?

[@sieroom1914]

@@thatindiandude4602 well idk the reason but he had a massive amount of prestige which maybe sounds like a mafia boss or something like that, and it was one of many reason that the most people followed him back then. People LOVE prestige.

[@thatindiandude4602]

@@sieroom1914 :( I feel like I am witnessing similar to what India is going through. Modi and his party wants to make India a Hindu Rashtra. :(

[@runajain5773]

​@@thatindiandude4602I do not think so

[@zorothe9th]

​@@thatindiandude4602 maybe because he also wrote a book detailing how one can babe sex with a toddler in a halal way

[@benjauron5873]

Shah Reza Pahlavi was the first and only Iranian head of state since the Arab conquest 1300 years earlier to not persecute Zoroastrians.

[@موسى_7]

Read about Ali son of Abi Talib and see if you change your mind

[@ThePurpleParis]

Just wanted to clarify that some parts of the video like how khomeini said he felt nothing after coming back, and also him telling the guy who suggested they exile him instead of killing him that he shouldn’t have done that and that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake, may seem like a joke, but khomeini actually did all those things and far worse. Including killing the guy who’s holding his hand and helping him off his plane in the famous picture. Really glad that the majority of the world is finally seeing these guys as the authoritarian dictators and monsters that they really are!

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

You’d be surprised how many anti-American leftists still praise or stubbornly refused to criticize the guy.

[@Zeruel3]

He was less Persian Gandhi and more Persian Lenin

[@parsarustami774]

​@@Zeruel3 mullahs and whoever wear a turban is not a persian. Iran died after Islam. Pahlavi was the only persian/iranian government after Islam.

[@دحيمالقحطاني-و6ث]

@@parsarustami774 Yes, and the people are very poor under Pahlavi rule

[@parsarustami774]

@@دحيمالقحطاني-و6ث people were rich and civilized under pahlavi. they got saved from Islam and Shariah law. and persian culture was revived.

[@Confederate-hj2dc]

“We knew it meant a lot to you, so we overthrew the government.” 🤣🤣🤣

[@mmrxaaa377]

10:29 - 10:48 these are real words that Khomeini said btw, he felt nothing after returning to his home country after 15 years of exile

[@soheilrhnvrd965]

He probably was like : it's just going as intended

[@ShinigamiInuyasha777]

I dont know its funny or very sad...i mean he lost his kid

[@seanegli7118]

​@@ShinigamiInuyasha777and banged goats

[@t.a4141]

or he s like : what the hell you want me to say ? plus he was being sarcastic ( in his own way ).

[@mustafaali3333-q1m]

Based

[@mcbabwe4977]

3:55 "Weird thing is; the Shah turned out to be a competent and strangely progressive leader." This line was hilarious to me for some reason. I guess it's the elementof surprise, it's not what you except of a dictator.

[@thelordofcringe]

Most middle eastern dictators were far more progressive than the "freedom fighters" that replaced them. Look at Egypt for example. So conservative the military had to step in to stop them arming jihadists around the region.

[@royale7620]

Monarchs are not dictators. Get your definitions straight.

[@yin6287]

​@@royale7620 but they're indeed autocrat

[@royale7620]

@@yin6287 good as it should be

[@dfv2060]

@royale7620 absolute monarchs very much do fall under the umbrella of dictator

[@silence_dais]

Khomeini is a fascinating figure. To distill into a basic comparison, he was essentially a conservative Lenin. He wanted the Shah gone, he wanted Islam to be the sole religion, and like Lenin he wasnt shy about using violence to get what he wanted. Thats just a very basic summary, you should definitely look into him outside of a brief Wikipedia glance because theres a lot to dive into about him.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Honestly, fantastic comparison!

[@garyoakham9723]

Nothing about Lenin is conservative you liberals need to stop blaming the gop for your actions

[@marianotorrespico2975]

--- NO, NOT AN ACCURATE COMPARISON . . . the Communist Lenin modernised Russia and the reactionary Khomeini took Iran to the Bronze Age, a sausage-fest of homophobe priests with high-tech weapons; not progress, as in Russia.

[@sakurakou2009]

Even ghandi wasnt all peaceful like they portray him theie was lot violence in india during them his hunger strike, he just acted as if he didn't support those violence, you should look up the partition of india and Pakistan all the people involved worked with ghandi to fight british before

[@kioumaarstaeed]

Yes absolutely fascinating! I love his books where he describes what to do with cows and sheeps after you have sex with them 🥰

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

The sequel! Thanks jack! You're awesome!🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@lukaswilhelm9290]

The very problem with Shah was that he tried to be Attaturk's wannabe with all secularization and westernization which were noy that bad but the thing was unlike Attaturk who got both popularity and power, Shah only able to got power and abused it through secret police/SAVAK to maintain his policies continued. The real popularity ended up in the hand of Shia clergy such as Ayatollah Khomeini who dreamed about a theocratic government, mainstream twelver Shia believes also didn't help with the whole "Clergy rules the Umma as future Mahdi's deputy" which is very weird even according to more mainstream Sunni Muslim beliefs that enable secular dictator like Attaturk, Sadam, Ghadafi and Suharto to rule their country. So yes it's very bad combination of western influences, communist threat, Shah's policy and twelver Shia in one country that is Iran and what it become now.

[@عليياسر-ذ5ب]

America, Britain and France: You are lying. This person is corrupt and evil. Khomeini was just a good person, even France is known to be. She was very kind and made Khomeini live on his land

[@Alusnovalotus]

Oops. Well as corrupt as the shah was, he wanted a better life for his people. Ayatollah just wanted power and the people to follow HIS ways disguised as “God’s” way. And now, here we are. What does the west feel about a nation that had the chance to be the first Dubai??? “Nothing.”

[@mohnamakakurosh1022]

ok, so a little correction there. The "Clergy rules the Umma as future Mahdi's deputy" is actually bullshit that Khomeini and Co. came up with (real shoker, huh?). The actual rule is "Ask the clergy about your religious duties until the Mahdi comes" and as Jack fully displayed in his video of Ali-ibn-Abitaleb - the first Imam of Shia Islam - , creating a religious rule under the shia is NOT something people are supposed to do, he only accepted the role when people straight up asked him to. You really need to take most of the stuff you hear about twelve shia with a grain of salt thanks to the insane propaganda machine the Iranian regime has.

[@lukaswilhelm9290]

@@mohnamakakurosh1022 idk man, many shia sects are just stright up insane with their obsessions to Alids. Usually in muslim society a clergy/ulema is just a consultatory position not an actual leader like in Shia's doctrine, anyway this whole thing Ayatollah is supreme leader must end if Iranians wants to be free.

[@mohnamakakurosh1022]

@@lukaswilhelm9290 I know where you're coming from, but I decided to go through what I was being told to believe and this is what I found: The only ones with actual leadership power are the 14 Immaculate. The clergy has always been a respected group because they spent their lives helping people follow the religion in the absence of the 14, but they royally screwed that up with the regime they made. Hell, if you want to know how much they've wrecked the actual belief system, just know that the term "Ayatollah" and more specifically "Ayatollah-il-Ozma" are originally titles that are supposed to belong only to the first Imam Ali-ibn-Abitaleb. This story is one as old as time, some group gain popularity in the eyes of a general population and the damn psychopaths hiding in that population start adding themselves to that group for recognition. It's pretty much happened with every religious group in the world.

[@friendlydude9441]

as a person that lives in iran it's hard to see someone like Khomeini is being held as a hero 24/7

[@JosephShemelewski]

Damn Iran has a very complicated history. It sucks so bad that a once prosperous nation has been reduced to well what we see now

[@Proudgoy24]

It's more prosperous now than ever(look at the major cities)

[@napolien1310]

I'm a bit surprised on how you downplayed the west involvement on Khumini's revolution.

[@Boardwoards]

among other omissions

[@mra4521]

@@BoardwoardsI have a feeling Part 3 is about the Ayatollah, which will lead into Part 4 about Sadam, Part 5 about Osama, and then Frank Herbert dies in the middle of writing Part 6, so someone else takes over for the one that’s about W.

[@Greener221]

There's several mentions of oil embargos, but no mention of tensions with Israel or the Yom Kippur War.

[@mra4521]

@@lederp42 I am glad somebody got it.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@Greener221 The Shah supported israel and Richard Milhous Nixon loved the Shah for that certainly. He was not about to oust such an ally.

[@cometmoon4485]

One important thing that no one ever talks about when discussing Iran (this video included) is that the form of Islam followed by Iranians ("Shia Islam") is BY NO MEANS mainstream to most Muslims. Many aspects of Shia Islam, like their reverance and near-worship of Ali, self-flagelation, and the idea of a "Muslim Pope", are considered abominations to 90% of Muslims around the world. For them to call themselves "The Islamic Republic" is bizarre. It's like if Mormons controlled s country and simply declared themselves "The Christian Republic".

[@abo7medd435]

This is very important to clear up

[@Zarastro54]

Mormons absolutely would do that though.

[@zorothe9th]

Shias are still more chill than sunnies

[@muhammadrifqi7308]

​​@@zorothe9th i was gonna reply with snarky remark, but i think you're right. I couldn't name any instance of suicide bombing done by shia islamist.

[@FatherPars51]

Comparing Shias to Mormons and saying they nearly worship Ali has to be the most uneducated blurb I’ve read in awhile. Not even Muslim.

[@rezazazu]

This was a surprisingly accurate comedic video of my country's recent history. 🙏👌

[@feartheamish9183]

Gotta say after watching extra history's series on Khosrow I started studying Iranian History. Just an amazing culture and people just getting shafted by the real life RNG post Muslim conquest. Edit: not saying Islam is bad more just referencing from the conquest, to the Mongols, to seljuks, to British, to ussr/USA, to themselves. Lotta whacks.

[@mmrxaaa377]

Islam is not bad, its horrible @@feartheamish9183

[@fanofsomething9144]

A jack video a day Keep the dictator away

[@ProjectEkerTest33]

I'm really unsure how to feel about the Shah's rule. It feels like if he'd just NOT done the whole secret police thing and the weird Europanisation he'd have probably been fine and the country would have been stable? I mean he's weirdly okay with listening to protestors and a lot of his policies sounded pretty good

[@LordErebusBloodmoon]

Honestly they should have just let the original democratic government stay and you know that install a autocrat

[@mmrxaaa377]

secret police was necessary to keep the country in one piece, the influence of communism in the country was very high. he limited SAVAK power in last years and that caused the revolution.

[@ProjectEkerTest33]

@@mmrxaaa377 Seems to me that the actions of the secret police caused the revolution. After all he wasn't overthrown by communists but by a combination of liberals and islamic fundamentalists who were pissed off at being opressed by the secret police

[@TheFi0r3]

Without the secret police, he would have been ousted long before he did. Plenty of people hated to be Westernized back in the day, but they sure love the economic prosperity it brings.

[@MajorCoolD]

By almost every metric I'd say he did pretty well, odds were simply stacked against him and there were more foreign elements that wished to see him gone. Indeed he'd have been better of having Komeiny have an 'accident' of sorts. It might sound cruel and shady, but I am pretty sure most democratic governments in the West also have a few skeletons in their closet. I think he just tried to westernize too much and that Calendar update thing seemed a bit random and unessecary. Also banning the Hijab isnt okay, but he should have legalized and helped normalize for women NOT to wear it. (no sense in forcing religious hardliners to abide by the law that objectively does little harm and expresses their beliefs) The biggest thing I'd say was the 20% of the Profits idea for the workers/employees... I mean, while it DOES cut into profits for the Company, it DOES also encourage the employees to work hard as they basicly get a nice bonus if the Company is doing great... and if they notice their 'Bonus' grows slimmer, well they will surely want to find out how they can change it. Admittably 20% is a considerable cut, but it really comes down to the Size of the Company and the Profits itself I suppose.

[@amir_iceking]

This revolution is just...wrong, the people were wrong and they are doing things wrong. I know, im an iranian which saw the countries ecconomy literally shatter, in the epan of 2 years the pricr of an ice cream has not doubled, tripled but been increased by 10 times. Thats how deeply bad it is.

[@TheFi0r3]

Yes, this is what happens when people decide to trash their country just because they feel like it. Just like Venezuela, where we had a relatively decent democracy with a rich oil industry. We elected Chávez, and then Maduro because that's what Chávez wanted, and now we are poorer than we were in the 80's with 5 times the population (35 million from whom 5 million left the country in the last 10 years) Great stuff.

[@danubeisreallypeculiarrive7944]

It's almost like US sanctions have big impact. Revolution was justified. The fact that USA fucked Iran's economy doesn't make the revolution less justified.

[@DonKrieg-382]

your shah was wrong

[@amir_iceking]

@@DonKrieg-382 even if he was (which he wasn't) he wasn't a fucked up terrorist and isolationism regime that founds terrorism around the world

[@DonKrieg-382]

@@amir_iceking he was just as fucked he let his entire nation starve (80%) so he can throw parties for fat liberal western politicans, iran actually had a democracy before the sattelite shah aka before 1953

[@Federalrepublicofsprout7263]

Today on "How fast can the US destroy a country"

[@blackskullknight9062]

Or other titles like "Brazil empire 2 electric boogaloo. But to be 100 even a summary sounds insane but if you look further into it you just feel bad for the nation.

[@otavioluis5774]

@@blackskullknight9062 the worst of all was the "war on the end of the world"(canudos war), they killed a city full of recetly free slaves, natives, mixed, poor whites, that followed a messianic figure during a crisis. They have cut the head of his leader and given to a NAZI eugenist scientist to study.

[@gustavusadolphus4344]

That's a weird way to spell Britian

[@TheFi0r3]

I think the country's population just decided to do a stupid and decided to put in power a religious autocrat. Good thing, most regret it nowadays, but there's nothing they can do about it as the current government will simply keep arresting them or simply killing them. Good times, people facing punishment from their own hubris.

[@MooImABunny]

speedrun ruin everything any%

[@AYVYN]

Should’ve replaced The Secret Police with the more righteous National Protection Agency.

[@Wyattinous]

Just wanted to say your awesome and I love your awesome content ❤

[@Addictedtocollecting01]

I'm officially a fan of this channel. History has never been this entertaining.

[@palmmoot]

This is knowledge more Americans should have. Everyone should have really. Great video, chilling ending.

[@AL-lh2ht]

Iran got exactly what they wanted. yeay!

[@cashewnuttel9054]

Why Americans? Iranians should learn from this, it's their country that got affected after all.

[@jaykubisanidiot8657]

Thank You Jack, this particular topic has always been a blind spot for me personally..

[@ianh2950]

Title unclear, the US backed many autocrats in 1953

[@TheSci-fiAnarchist42]

Are we going to get a video on Khomeini? I would love it if you discussed the Iran-Iraq war, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. 😁

[@warlordofbritannia]

Ah, the Iran-Contra scandal. My mother still idolizes Reagan but even she has to admit that wasn’t the best thing to happen during the ‘80s… “Reagan never told you the truth about the Contra funds.” “He told me enough. He told me they were to help fund an operation to free the hostages!” “No Mum, Reagan gave them to Iran *for* the hostages.” “That’s not true! That’s impossible.” “Do a quick Google search, you’ll know it to be true.” “No…NOOOOOO!”

[@perturbedbatman2009]

You mean that forcing regime change in foreign countries most people can’t find on a map doesn’t tend to end well for any of the parties involved? Maybe it’ll work next time.

[@Inoffensive_name]

If you can't find Iran on a map, you're a smoothbrain. Don't assume the rest of us are as ignorant as you.

[@LancesArmorStriking]

Haiti and Somalia: oh shit here we go

[@runningcommentary2125]

It’s not hard to find Iran on the map. Just look for the big cat shape with ‘Iran’ written on it.

[@Radonatorr]

If you can't find Iran on a map it only shows how weak at geography you are

[@yin6287]

The amount of people who didn't get the sarcastic joke is baffling

[@Edmonddantes123]

And by “backed” you mean “toppled a democratically elected prime minister to replace him with a US-friendly dictator”; if you make one episode for each instance of this, you’ve got your work lined up until retirement…

[@johnnotrealname8168]

This instance was arguably a good thing. Granted he could be brutal but he was a very progressive ruler.

[@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel]

​​@@johnnotrealname8168Even a progressive and competent authoritarian is still an authoritarian. Autocrats follow autocrats, dictators follow dictators. That progressive, competent authoritarian will one day die, or wish to retire, and someone who will likely be far worse will follow them.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel Well clearly but instead this guy was kicked out and guess what? It was worse. He was a brilliant force for Iran.

[@C-Farsene_5]

@@johnnotrealname8168 except when it came to social welfare

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@C-Farsene_5 Did you not watch the video? The Shah considered himself a socialist, I do not mind you, and although he banned unions he instituted among the best Labour laws in the world.

[@ViJoker1]

"The US backed an autocrat in (*insert any year and you're right*)"

[@aleksandarvil5718]

@ViJoker1 *_"Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"_* 🙄🥱😒

[@Jack-me7kl]

This is the perfect segue into the final nail in Jimmy Carter’s Presidency, the Iran Hostage Crisis, as well as a US military failure so big that produced sweeping military reforms, Operation Eagle Claw. Please, Rackham, I beg you for that video. Operation Eagle Claw was so goofy.

[@ArcherMcdonald]

Bro! I love that you referenced the Baha’i faith!! I never get to hear people talking about it much!!!!

[@CliffCardi]

Wow. I never even heard of Cinema Rex until today.

[@samjonas5494]

You forgot when the shah spent 20 years in the can. I loved the part where he ate grilled cheese off the radiator!

[@patrickblanchette4337]

Can’t wait for part 3😆!

[@GallowglassVT]

Yeah, the US does that a lot. Same with the UK.

[@cashewnuttel9054]

You want to know why they do that a lot? Because nobody stops them. If the world united against them then they will stop.

[@bobafett_8922]

Yet that will never happen ​@@cashewnuttel9054

[@honk813]

Damn the algorithm beat this down hard

[@debrickashaw9387]

Found your channel through VTH. Great content, you've earned a sub

[@matthew5386]

3:55 The shah was not compatant at all. As Ryszard Kapusciński writes in "the shah of shahs" "In the mean time the shah is making purchases costing billions, and ships full of merchandise are steaming towards iran from all the continents but when they reach the gulf, it turns out that the small obsolete ports are unable to handle such a mass of cargo (the shah hadn't realised this). several hundred ships line up at sea and stay there for up to six months for which delay iran pays a billion dollars annually to the shipping companies.....it turns out that there are no warehouses (the shah hadn't realised). In the open air lie millions of tons of all sorts of cargo. Half of it, consisting of perishable foodstuffs and chemicals, ends up being thrown out." Then it turns out there is no truck for transport, then after getting trucks the shah didnt realise they had no drivers. Then they get south korea drivers who leave after finding out they arent getting paid as much as the local drivers. Then it turns out iran has no doctors or technicians. So the shah sends students out to the best colleges across the world. Most dont come back because of how horrible SAVAK is

[@grandcrowdadforde6127]

>>> what a hell hole! Let them eat cake sez Shah and look what haooened!

[@blurb9319]

You can still appreciate the improvements to the country that happened under his rule and the fact that he made concessions to the people after they protested (regardless of what his motivations may have been) is astounding. Also, the sheer awfulness of the regime that came after him makes it much easier to see the good.

[@thelordofcringe]

All of this continued happening under the Ayatollah, but far worse, shrinking the economy nearly in half because of the radicals being some of the most incompetent economists in history

[@SonofSethoitae]

To be fair, he does list all the reasons the Shah sucked not a minute later.

[@alanpennie8013]

Kapuscinski is a very stylish writer. He's also totally unreliable.

[@nickmoser7785]

"Whose primary export is human rights violations." BASED

[@missme2046]

Thank you for covering my country

[@michaelciemnoczolowski9051]

I'm fairly certain I've said this before, but given that my Covid-era brain doesn't stand a chance to even recollect what I had for lunch "today" anymore, maybe I'm saying it for the first time: best KZbinr ever

[@Ali-bu6lo]

The Shah persecution of the Baha'i was negligible compared what they faced under the Qajars and also their current situation. No one hated the shah for the restrictions he sometimes imposed on the Baha'i because the Iranian Muslim majority population hated the Baha'i for daring to not accepting Mohammad as the last prophet and following a new religion. If anything, people were angry at him for not persecuting the Baha'i more.

[@julianshepherd2038]

I met a bunch of left wing Iranians back in 1985. Very nice people, which hadnt helped them at all.

[@rutufn0596]

About the exile of Khomeyni, he was hosted many years in France. Protected by the local gvmnt, he was able to stay at the head of the anti-shah mvmnt.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Another thing in history France helped ruin.

[@austinclements8010]

it really is hilarious that the country founded on sticking it to imperial powers became an imperial power

[@philiphockenbury6563]

Something something Dark Knight Joker quote.

[@theprofessionalfence-sitter]

That's how it goes. Being anti-imperialist usually just means being angry that some other imperial power stops you from doing the imperialism yourself. Even with settler colonies, their citizens were usually angry about how their overlords wanted to stop them from stealing the land of the natives that they were (temporarily) allied to.

[@melange78]

Yeah like Persia has never been an imperial power before the Ayatollah.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@@alexanderdvanbalderen9803At the time Britain was the strongest Empire in Europe.

[@BasicLib]

@landon8214 Nah iran is still pretty imperial, and a successful one at that. It's basically won the middle eastern cold war with the Arbs and now controls a belt of friendly regimes from lebanon to Yemen. It's only geopolitical failures have been: 1) The fall of the rep of Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban (The Islamic Republic and the Taliban are massive rivals) 2) Azeri and consequently Turkish dominance in the caucuses and the collapse of Armenian power (Armenia was a useful counterweight to Turkish influence) Yh, Iran was, is and in many ways will always be a natural empire. They have a nack for it.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

11:57 Happily ever after.... Such irony it hurts, shame the shah was overthrown....

[@kaanyasin3733]

1:13 scariest picture ive ever seen

[@jurassicphips]

Thank you for mentionig the Baha'i. There should be more attention on how Iran treatse them badly

[@jam8539]

ah yes the age old example of replacing someone whos authoritarian, tyranical and abusive with their power, with someone else whos more authoritarian, tyranical and abusive with their power.

[@andrewb1921]

No mention of the massive party the Shah threw in the 70's to celebrate the anniversary of the Persian Empire? Thats gotta be coming later as a KZbin Short.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Criticism of that party got way overblown by propagandists. Part of his job was to bring prestige to the country.

[@stevencooper4422]

​@@robertortiz-wilson1588Exactly. It was little different from a Met Gala

[@jamiemartin1434]

Do you think Jack Rackam might do Yasuke the black samurai?

[@cynthiasonier5142]

When we hear about the children and heirs of various dictators, we often like to hear that they were "raised in the west" and similar stuff...but that often means they know fuck all about the country they are supposed to rule.

[@Jason-yk7un]

8:21 this incident was actually created by strong supporters of Khamenei, who set the cinema on fire, however, Khomeini and his supporters blamed the secret police which was untrue

[@dina5482]

As an iranian, i will say i like the pun.

[@cashewnuttel9054]

Are you in Iran?

[@fedoramaster6035]

Just remembered that you teased this series in a sponsorship like two years ago.

[@gandalf_thegrey]

Fundamental religious leader: We were partners, you backed my dictatorship! USA: *Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?*

[@amir_iceking]

10:26 that is a real qoute from khomeini and I think it goes to show how much he only cared for his sick islamist ideology and not iran

[@MarkSmith-vo1vn]

This was him being sacarstic, if you see the interview it was a westerner asking him a bunch of random questions that just seemed to annoy him

[@amir_iceking]

@@MarkSmith-vo1vn nope it was a real qoute: what do you feel now that you're in iran? -nothing

[@Heinrich1uk]

Great video, like most. Keep up the good work.

[@cdcdrr]

You know he did 20 years in the can, not a peep?

[@aredjayc2858]

That ending was... chilling

[@K.Dilkington]

He actually continued the "to be continued . . ."

[@WOE-ComposingGod]

I'm sure a 3rd part is neccessary to explain the new era of Iran and be the end to a great Trilogy of Iran's modern history

[@sledstorm4703]

So in short. Phil Leotardo also known at «The Shah of Iran» fled to the US where he eat cheese of a radiator and spent 20 years in the can

[@aleksandarvil5718]

11:10 Can't argue with that fact !!!

[@rustomkanishka]

So apparently PM Mossagdeh was overthrown 1953 by a Mr Kermit Roosevelt Jr, grandson of POTUS and big stick enthusiast, Teddy. Kermit Roosevelt III is a law school professor. Who tf names their kid Kermit? Thrice?

[@NobleWolf]

Its funny how often this kind of thing repeats in history

[@FootballFury]

Damn I thought when it said the US backed an autocrat in 1953 it was gonna be about Batista

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Part 2 already! 😊

[@FancyRPGCanada]

I like how he explains Iranian history as weird 😂

[@user-tl9gp4dn4q]

I beg you to put time stamp next to when the song appears

[@JunkPhuJP]

Oh you can’t end it here. The Iatolah is next and the Hostage Crisis that followed his accession.

[@roboticgentlemen1970]

I can say that this video made me look up Iran pre 1979

[@Fordo007]

The regime the revolution brings to power is often far worse than the one you revolted against.

[@AmirDarkOne]

US revolution?

[@TheColombiano89]

One thing you are missing is Iran is Indo-European. Islam was brought to Iran by the Arabs in the 7th century which had to fight tooth and nail to convert them.

[@CARL_093]

from a weird competent leader to a human rights violations

[@hometablet1]

You're deserved to be followed just because of this video

[@Salat90Gedi]

This is so good. We will get brownie points from for promoting democracy and you will be like Persian Gandhi 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@andrewdubose9968]

Go listen to the old 60 Minutes interviews with the Shah. A man ahead of his time. Iran has undoubtedly regressed since the end of his rule.

[@KramerKontained94]

You were way too kind on the Shah

[@Tacommander]

Fyi: knomeini actually said "nothing" after being asked how he feels when returning to iran in the plane

[@patricioperez7995]

u got me waiting a month man

[@thewestisthebest6608]

20% of profits to the workers sounds like a good law for the US

[@KevinFields777]

Just think, if the United States had supported democracy in Iraq and Iran, rather than topple democracies for puppet dictatorships, the Middle East just might be one of the most stable, peaceful and free places in the world and might have actually been a better check on USSR/Russian aggression.

[@AL-lh2ht]

Iraq is a democracy. You can't just lie like that. Iran themselves wanted these goverment, but lets be racist and think they have no agency.

[@lucafaithfull7397]

@@AL-lh2htIran is not a democracy by any metric

[@cashewnuttel9054]

Everybody keeps saying: "if the US hadn't done this or done that then things would be better and blah blah blah"... but why does nobody ask the other question: why doesn't the world ever stop the US?

[@miketacos9034]

Desperately need a follow up about Khomeini in power

[@dfv2060]

The part where he told kids that charging into minefields would get them a free pass into heaven

[@mistared4021]

Oh hey, my country is mentioned. The secret police and the murdurs were what i think did the shah in. Some of the stuff those guys did was horrifying.

[@MiguelLopézdeSagredo]

Swapping a puppet dictator for an unwilling dictator. Typical CIA craftmanship.

[@ilovemesomme]

I had no idea Phil Leotardo was actually the Shah of Iran. I had seen that tv show and thought it was bullshit.

[@Willys-Wagon]

ain't no such thing as half way crooks, my guy should have embraced his villain arch.

[@kampferin4298]

I'm curious. During this period what was the Tudeh doing ?