Abbas Amanat

In the, some of them do, Nasser, he didn't have much of an oil resources in Egypt, but he was also one of these strong men, okay, in the 20th century.

Loved by some, hated by others.

So it necessarily does not tie up to economic resources underground.

But in the Iranian case, unfortunately, it did.

And it created more than one issue for Iran.

It's created a strong state, which is the Pahlavi State from 1921 onward.

Because in 1921, at the end of the First World War, Iran was in almost a state of total bankruptcy.

And the British...

had a desire to try to bring Iran to the system that they created in the Middle East in the post-war era, the mandate system.

Palestine, Iraq, and then, of course, French mandate of Lebanon and Syria, all of this.

And Iran was separate because Iran was an independent country.

It wasn't part of the Ottoman Empire that collapsed.

So they had to somehow handle it.

And what they tried to do didn't work.

As a result, partly domestic, partly international issues brought about a regime which is headed by the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah.

Okay, the first military officer called Reza Khan, actually a military officer of the Cossack forces.

And the Cossack forces was the force that was created in the 19th century model of the Russian Cossacks.

When the ruler in the 19th century visited

as in a royal tour, and the Tazar showed the great Cossack forces.

He said, I like this.