I am an Iranian. I live in Canada. And I am and I support Idle No More. When Chief Theresa Spence started her fast on 11 December 2012 I dedicated my customary winter fast in solidarity to her, and as …

Parallels 1: From Iran to Turtle Island; One Heart Beat Read more »

Sources are listed in abbreviations inside brackets at the end of each paragraph. See web/bibliography. “Max Thornburg, a Standard Oil executive” who “was brought in as a consultant to the Iranian government,” and had “recommended rejection of the Supplementary Agreement,” …

Behind the Rhetoric Read more »

Mossadeq was hated as much by his royalist and conservative compatriots as by the AIOC and the British Government. Sources are cited in abbreviations inside brackets at the end of each paragraph. See web/bibliography. [In 1952 Mossadeq] instigated a confrontation …

Mossadeq: the Mob’s Leader Read more »

Sources are cited in abbreviations inside brackets at the end of each paragraph. See web/bibliography. [In 1950] elections were held for the Sixteenth Majles, but police beat up candidates not favored by the Shah and riots broke out. The minister …

Nationalization: the “Crisis” Begins Read more »

Sources are cited in abbreviations inside brackets at the end of each paragraph. See web/bibliography. Labour unions, suppressed under Reza Shah, bloomed during the war and, watered with Tudeh [Community Party] encouragement, began to clamor for higher wages and better …

Labour Strikes in the Oil City – 1946-1951 Read more »

Following nationalization of oil in Iran, Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) changed its name to British Petroleum in 1954, and forayed into lands far from Iran: Triad was really formed by the Tanner brothers who were local men that were …

BP on the Prowl: From Iran to Canada and Alaska Read more »

Abbreviations inside brackets indicate sources which can be seen in the web/bibliography. Abadan [refinery] employed 30,000 workers. Most were hired locally, although there were still 3,000 imported Palestinians and Indian laborers working there [in 1941]. Only 16 Iranians with British …

The Oil City: “A Persian Story” Read more »

Sources are cited in abbreviations inside brackets at the end of each paragraph. See web/bibliography. [O]il was primarily a lighting and heating fluid until Henry Ford produced his first assembly-line Model Ts and the horseless carriage went mass-market. Oil was …

Strike Gold, Strike Oil – Origin of Oil Concessions [= Origin of BP] in Iran Read more »

In March 2000, in a speech at the American Iranian Council — a conservative think-tank with a board of directors composed of a variety of high-ranking corporate officers, diplomats and academics — then Secretary of State Madeline Albright for the …

Madeline Albright’s So-Called Apology in 2000 Read more »