The Economic Modernisation of Iran, 1953–1968

In 1953, Iran was at loggerheads with the US and UK, after Prime Minister Mossadegh nationalised Iran’s oil reserves. By 1968, under the autocratic rule of the Shah, Iran was a booming export economy, benefiting from high oil prices and consumer demand. It had unambiguously become a modern industrial economy. Sifting through primary and secondary sources, Ali Rahnema charts Iran’s progress in this vital fifteen-year period. He asks, who can claim the credit? And who bears the blame for its critical failures?