Rethinking Iran:  Images and Realities

FYI 100-10
Winter 2025
Tue Thu 9:00-10:45, Lippman 201
Eshragh Motahar

Office Hours:  Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00-5:30, and by appointment; click here
Office Location:  Lippman Hall 218
Telephone:  (518) 388-6065
E-mail:  motahare@union.edu
Update:  The Nexus site for this course is updated regularly.  Please make sure to check it out.

Course Material
Syllabus Term Paper Proposal Guidelines
Iran:  Basic Facts Presentation Guidelines     Sign-up Sheet     Schedule
Short Paper    Suggestions for the Short Paper Term Paper Guidelines  (Past Paper Topics)
Library Resources Election 2017 photos
Topic Outlines
Introduction Orientalism BBC Documentary Government Structure
Nuclear Issues The Economy Women/Human Rights Islam
 
Data Sources
Central Bank of Iran Iran Data Portal:  Syracuse University
CIA Factbook 30th Anniversary Documents
Encyclopædia Iranica The Economist
Energy Information Administration  Petroleum Earnings Open Knowledge Repository
FDI, Iran UN Data
Global Finance United Nations Development Programme
IMF  WITS
 Investing in Iran  World Bank
 
Useful Sites

(Please note:  this section of the site is "work in progress."  At this point, this section is selective, incomplete, eclectic, etc.  Check back frequently!  Suggestions welcomed.  Some links may have died since I last visited them!)

Analyses, Commentary
Agence Global (Bulliet, Khouri, Seale, et al)

Iran in a Changing World, with Marandi, 12/17/23
Iran's population getting older

Archeology/Architecture/History/Nature
Anaarak
Cities that Touched Heaven, NYRB

Cyrus' "prayer" at Persepolis
Iran Deserts (Farsi)
Kaanoon-e Iranian (Farsi)
Parthian Horsewoman
Pigeon Towers

Blogs
in Farsi
in English

Bookstores/Publishers/Book Reviews
Downloadable books (Farsi)
Ketab
Mage Publishers
Pars Times

Calendar
Iranian Calendar
A Concise Review of the Iranian Calendar
Calendar Converter

CIA Coup and Other Foreign Interventions
Abrahamian and 2017 Documents
After Trump leaves, US and Israeli aggression against Iran remains
Angry TV film-makers stop release of lauded Iranian documentary
UK’s lead role in 1953 Iran coup d’etat exposed
A message from 'Queen Elizabeth' to the shah played role in CIA 1953 coup in Iran, documentary says
'ملکه و کودتا'؛ پخش فیلمی درباره برکناری محمد مصدق از کانال ۴ بریتانیا
The Queen and the Coup: When documentary on the 1953 Iran coup is on Channel 4, and the bizarre true story it explores
The Queen and the Coup, review: did Her Majesty really oust the Iranian Prime Minister?
COUP 53 REVIEWS

CIA declassifies more of "Zendebad, Shah!" – internal study of 1953 Iran coup
British Intervention in Iran
British spy's account sheds light on role in 1953 Iranian coup
Document 1 (NY Times, Schaffer Library)
Document 2 (YouTube)
Famin in Iran during WWI
Kashahni-CIA (Farsi)
Kinzer on CIA coup  (26 minutes)
Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept
Mossadegh Project
Mossadegh in the US
On the History of US-Backed Coups—Consortium News Editor Speaks to George Galloway
Overthrow: 100 Years of U.S. Meddling & Regime Change, from Iran to Nicaragua to Hawaii to Cuba
State Department Publishes Formerly Expunged
Timeline, CIA Coup
Documents on 1953 Iran Coup
U.S. Ambassador interview

Documentaries
A Taste of Iran 1 (BBC)
BBCPersian:  From Cyrus to Ahmadinezhad
Bourdain Unknown Iran (CNN)
Iran in the Bible (28 mins)
Iran Season--AlJazeera
Iran and the West 1/3, BBC, 2/7/2009
Iran and the West 2/3, BBC, 2/14/2009
Iran and the West 3/3, BBC, 2/21/2009
Nightingales and Roses (BBC)
Our Man in Tehran (New York Times)
PBS:  A Death in Tehran (11/17/2009, Neda)
NPR Studio 360 (12/21/2007)
PBS:  Forbidden Iran
PBS:  Talking to Iran
Persia's Last Emperor: How Did The Iranian Monarchy Fall?
The Queen and the Coup   Review1   Review2   Review3
Rageh Inside Iran
Reza Shah (Farsi)
Shah's Departure from Iran
"The Most Dangerous Nation"
The Skin that Burns
Terror and Tehran (PBS)

Elections 2009 (Presidential)

Famine, 1917-18
8-10 million Iranians died over Great Famine caused by the British in late 1910s, documents reveal
Who Remembers the Persians

Festivals
Norooz

Tirgan (Toronto)
Tirgan (description in Farsi)

Fourtieth Anniversay
Forty Years of the Iranian Revolution: 'The Shah is Gone'
International law and the Iranian revolution
As Islamism Fades, Iran Goes Nationalist
Forty years of Iran’s unfinished revolution
چرا در ایران انقلاب نمی‌شود؟ مهدی خلجی

Images
Before
2500-year Celebrations
Before chador
Before chador--Ms Foroozaan
Before--misc
Before--misc
Bush in Esfahan
Cabarets in Tehran
Chadored women not allowed
Darya Kenaar
Documentary
From Tehran to Cairo A manoto 1 documentary
Goethe nights in Tehran
Goethe nights, BBCPersian (Farsi)
Island of Stability
Parissa interview with national TV
Queen Elizabeth visiting Esfahan
Shah and Farah
Shah, Soraya, Elizabeth and Phillip
Shah and Fouzieh
Shah in Amsterdam
Shah in Hungary
Shah & Farah in NYC 1962
Shah's Speech on Women's Day
Shah in Exile
School textbooks
University Students
"Worthy Girls"

After
Khomaini arrival in Tehran
Shah's Arrival in the US
Khomeini on Hostage Issue
Sor'at e Eshgh (Kiosk)
School books before and after
U.S. Embassy Takeover
Khamenei/Time Magazine

Before and After
History in Pictures
TV announcers
Women's football
Zoghal Khoob (Kiosk)

International Relations
Iran Wins With US Airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen, 1/12/2024
Rouhani/Fox News, Fall 2019.  And here.
Soleimani's murder, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, January 2020
Zarif/CNN, Fall 2019
Noam Chomsky: Despite Iran Spat, U.S. Support for Israeli Occupation Continues Without Pause, March 2, 2015

Iranian Government Links
The Presidency
National Institutions and other links

Islam
Origins of Sunni and Shiite Islam by Devin Stewart (1)
Origins of Sunni and Shiite Islam by Devin Stewart (2)
Pew Report 2009
Pew Site:  Unity and Diversity

Linkestan
African and Middle Eastern/Library of Congress
Ahmadinejad's interview with AlJazeera 10/6/12
Asghar Agha (Farsi)
Azarbaijan People's Government
Bahrain Map, 1961
Balkh
Belonging/Not Belonging
Calendar, other general information
CASMII
Celebrating Christmas in Iran
Ey Iran  alt
Farhangsara
Farman establishing constitutional monarchy
Flowers, the symbolism of in Iranian culture (Farsi)
Haftaan (Farsi)
Haft-Seen (Farsi)
Impeccable Logic (Monty Python, Youtube)
Iran Air Flight 655UK's Involvement
Iran:  A Parallel Universe
Iranian-American Survey (MIT)
Iran-Contra Affair
Iranian Internet Resources
Iranians (home and abroad; YouTube)
Iranians for Peace
Izadi "Haj"
Israel:  Iranians we love you!
Jon Stewart/Jason Jones Behind the Veil
Jon Stewart/Jason Jones 1 Minarets of Menace
Jon Stewart/Jason Jones 2 Persians of Interest
Jon Stewart/Jason Jones 3 Ayatollah So
Jon Stewart/Jason Jones 4 The Kids are Allah Right
Jon Stewart/War Bores
Jon Stewart/Iran War Drums
Jon Stewart/Menage a quatre? June 2014
Kite Festival (Tehran, BBCPersian)
Maz Jobrani (Persia, YouTube)
Maz Jobrani (Cookie)
National Iranian-American Council
Netanyahu
New York Times:  "Not-So-Crazy in Tehran" Kristof, 6/23/2012
NoRooz in Israel
NoRooz in Israel (2)
Obama's Message, NoRooz 2012
Parviz Khatibi
Parstimes
Parstimes:  General Information
Perez's Message:  NoRooz 2012
Persia, Iowa (Farsi)
Plastic Surgery--nose jobs
Proverbs (Farsi)
Rich Kids of Tehran
Russian Ambassador in Tehran 1828
"Salt Men" in Iran
Satire:  Bush and Hussain
Silk Road Studies
Sizdah beh dar
Stress and Hope in Tehran, NY Times
Tah-deeg Art
TED:  Israel/Iran
Tehrangeles
Tissa Hami (Iran, YouTube)
Unrequited Hospitality (WWII Ploish people/Iran)
Weddings in Iran
Yaldaa
Zero-degree Orbit (madaar-e sefr darajeh)
Z-Net:  Iran

Literature
Attar Birds
Conference of Birds
Esfahani gooyesh
Forough Farrokhzad
Ganjoor (Poetry database, Farsi)
Ghand-e Parsi (BBCPersian)
Ghazal
Hafez
Keshavarz Interview on Rumi
Ketaab-e Jom'e
Ketaab-e Koucheh
Molana
Molana:  Soroush (VOA, Persian)
Molana:  The Song of Ney
Radio Rumi
Sa'adi to Trump (Farsi)
Saa'edi et al (Farsi)
Saales (Farsi)
Shamlou
Sufism

Maps
Esfahan
HistoMap
Hormuz facts
Iran Ethnic Groups
Iran Ethnolinguistic Groups
Iran Surrounded
Muslims in the World
Persian Empire 1
Persian Empire 2
Shi'a in the Middle East
Southwest Asia
Tehran Old Map
Tehran Old vs New Maps
Terrorism Map

US bases encircle Iran

Miscellaneous
India's Persian history
Old Palestine
Old Southwest Asia (photos)
Ouramanat/UNESCO (Farsi)

Movies
Darbaarer-ye Eli
Datbaarey-ye Eli alt
Havoo
Marmoulak
Marmoulak alt
Marmoulak alt 2
Tala va Mes (Gold and Copper)
Tehran:  Orientalist Brainwashing
Tofigh-e Ejbaari
What an Iranian film about a leper colony can teach us about coronavirus
Zendeghi-ye Khosoosi

Music

Chahaar Mezraab
Chakavak Ensemble/Library of Congress
Iranians and Israelis playing Chamber Music
Darvish Radio (Iranian traditional music)
Demokracy
(Abjeez Interview (Farsi))
Golhaa Project
Golhaa Radio (Iranian traditional music)
Hayedeh (in Israel)
Introduction to Iranian Music
Marziyeh Concert (UK?, YouTube)
Motamedi-Rosario La Tremendita 2011
Motamedi-Rosario La Tremendita 2014
Nehedar
Pallett
Parissa interview (Farsi TV)
Pattern Singing
Persianmusic.com
Rita:  Kamtar zan Shaneh  official YouTube  alt
Pouran + Viguen:  Kamtar zan shaneh  alt
Rita:  VOAPersian
Rita at the UN
Rosario La Tremendita y Mohammad Motamedi - Qasida. Bienal de Flamenco de Holanda 2011
Rabbana
Shahidi-Payvar
Shajarian: a music icon cherished by a nation
Shajarian, BBCPersian
Shajarian, the death of an icon  albums
Shanbeh-zadeh, alt, alt
آهنگ جومه نارنجی " Sima Bina Concert Dastan
Simorq Project
Simorq Project/BBC broadcast
Simorq Project/BBC broadcast alt  alt
Southern:  In search of junub, the hippie spirit of Iran's south
Viguen (Maraa beboos)

News Sites/Radio, TV, Magazines, etc.
Fake News/unrest
Informed Comment
Iran-Interlink
Iran Radio Channels
Iran News Agency
Jonbesh-e Raah-e Sabz (Jaras)
NBC interview with Zarif, March 4, 2015
Radio College Park
Radio Golha
rfi
Rooz
Talk تاک

Nuclear Issues
AlJazeera on Nuclear issues/Israel/"wipe out"
Manufactured Crisis/Gareth Porter

Oral History
Harvard Iranian Oral History Project

Orientalism
Infinity of Traces
Orientalism, Edward Said/Sut Jhally, 1998
Perceptions of Persia

 

Photographs/Videos (Scenery)
Abadan

Bad-hejabs 1
Bad-hejabs 2
Beyond realism: Iran's photographers recreate images of nation
British Occupation of Bushehr
British Woman's Trip to Iran (on a bicycle)
Cloud Forest, Shahroud
Coronavirus through the eyes of 5 Iranian photographers
Cyrus Tomb
Damavand/Spring time
Dar ul-Fonoun
Destiny
Esfahan Esfahan early 1350s
'Every Iran is different': The female photographers seeing their country with fresh eyes
First Car in Iran Renault)
Food
Hedayat
Historical photos of Iran
History in Pictures
Iran from the lens of a Chinese photographer
Iran the beautiful
Iran:  Baad-e Sabaa (French, 1970)
Iranians
Iran Scenery 1 (YouTube)
Iran Scenery 3 (YouTube)
Iraq War
Jewish Iranians in Israel
Lake Urumieh
Maasouleh
Mazandaran Province in autumn
Mossadegh
Mossadegh in New York
Most Beautiful Girls In Iran From Mihaela Noroc’s Eyes
Naaser al-din Shah
Nasser al-din Shah's Kitchen
NoRooz in Tajikistan
Old Iran
Old Iran:  Reza Shah period
Old Iran:  Esfahan 1924
Old Iran: Pahlavi Officials
Panoramio
Penn State ISA March 2013
Persepolis (old photo, Qajar era)
Persian Empire (photos)
Photographers
Qajar Period
Qanat 1   Qanat 2
Revolution Stories:  The Welcoming Committee
Rural Iran Picturebook
Shah's last 48 hours in Iran (BBCPersian)
Striking photos of a lesser-seen Iran
Tajikistan (Bolshevik Revolution)
TehranBureau
Sam Javanrouh
Tarbiyat Schools  2  3
Time Photoessay
Wind Mills

Profiles

BBC
CIA Factbook
The Economist
The World Bank

Rafsanjani's Death
BBCPersian

Gooya--Sokhan
New York Times

Revolution 1979
Ayatollah Khomeini: A rare encounter with a true revolutionary
BBCPersian Radio Archives
The ayatollah's unkept promises

Sanctions
'The Beautiful Dreams That Are Burnt': Portraits From Iran Under Sanctions
Covid-19 and U.S. Sanctions On Iran
Collective punishment has always been the stated goal of Iran sanctions hawks
US slaps more sanctions on Iran in final days of Trump presidency
US sanctions have caused Iranians untold misery - and achieved nothing
Unsilencing sanctions: Iranian musicians launch album in Germany
The undeniable cruelty of Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran

US sanctions make it harder to fight COVID-19
Why US sanctions cannot remove Iran as a key player in the Middle East
Sanctions Kill
Sanctions Kill--Iran
Sanctions US Costs--Iran
US Hands off Iran YAE
 

Scenes ...
139, 2/20/16
138, 1/30/16
137, 1/17/16
136, 1/2/16
135, 12/6/15
134, 8/16/15
133, 8/8/15
132, 7/25/15
131, 4/26/15

130, 4/5/15
129, 3/28/15
128, 3/21/15
127, 3/14/15
126, 3/7/15
125, 2/28/15
124, 2/21/15

123, 2/14/15
122, 2/7/15
121, 1/31/15

120, 1/24/15
119, 1/16/15
118, 1/4/15
117, 11/29/15

Studies/Panel Discussions
Ayatollah Mike
BBC
BBC (including maps)
Corruption in Iran (a study by Reuters, 11/11/2013)
Cynthia Chung:  Part 1,   Part 2,    Part 3.
Great Famine 1910s
Library of Congress
The Iranophobia Lobby Machine.  The Nation, August, 2014.
Sanctions, US/COVID-19
The Secret History of the Push to Strike Iran
Wikipedia

Travel
Iran Travel
Kylie Flavell:  part 2, part 3, part 4
Loot:  here, here, here, here
Reza & Mahsa

Universities/Learned Societies/Libraries/Museums
American Institute of Iranian Studies
The Association for the Study of Persian Societies
British Library (Golha Archival Project)
British Museum (the World of Ancient Persia)
Center for ME Studies, U of Oklahoma
Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies
Columbia University
Foundation for Iranian Studies
Harvard University
International Society for Iranian Studies
Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies
Iran Heritage Foundation
Iran Primer, US Institute of Peace
MIT Center for International Studies
Omid-e Mehr Foundation
Persian and Persianate Studies
United States Institute of Peace
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Toronto/Iranian Studies
Rutgers University
Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies
UCLA
University of Wisconsin

Webcasts/Wenbinars/Podcasts
Can Iran and the US re-engage after the election?  (Escobar, Marandi)
Children of the Revolution (BBC), Part 1
Children of the Revolution (BBC), Part 2
Democracy Now interview with Ahmadinejad (part I)
Democracy Now interview with Ahmadinejad (part II)
NPR Studio 360 (12/21/2007)
Larry King interview with Ahmadinejad
Library of Congress
Pletka on Iran
UCLA

Websites
Ajam
Cultural Heritage (tourism information)
Iran Affairs
IranWire
Persian Gulf Studies
Reorient
TehranBureau (at PBS)
TehranBureau (at the Guardian)
Wide Asleep in America

Women/Minorities
Black Iranians
Collective for Black Iranians
50 Iranian Women You Should Know: Tahereh Qurratu’l-Ayn
Armenian Genocide (BBC Persian)
Armenian Genocide/rugs (BBC Persian)
Baha'i Architecture
The Holocaust (BBCPersian)
Jews
Jews in ancient Iran (Farsi)
Jews in Iran (BBCPersian, October 2012)
When Iran Welcomed Jewish Refugees
A Quiet Genocide
Tahereh and Forough:  here here and here
U.S. “Maximum Pressure” on Iran Hurts the Women It Claims to Help
Women87
(Farsi)
Women of Tavakolan Village, Kermanshah
The Last of the Zoroastrians
Zoroastrians:  Khorde Avesta
Zoroastrians (BBCPersian)
آثار شش زن ایرانی در نمایشگاه بینابین در نیویورک
رنگین‌کمان زنان ایرانی در پایتخت آمریکا

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Last revised:  Monday, December 09, 2024