Beginning with the CIA-led coup in 1953 that led to the removal of Mohammad Mosaddegh, the film traces the transformation of Iran from a Western-aligned monarchy under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to the Iranian revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
As relations with the United States collapse after the Iranian hostage crisis, a parallel rivalry intensifies with Israel.
Through the decades that follow, a conflict defined by proxy wars, covert operations and disputes over Iran’s perceived nuclear ambitions emerges. Iran: The Making of a War explores how these tensions escalated into direct confrontation - and the serious and dangerous regional and global implications.
Using archive material, expert analysis and accounts from various perspectives, the documentary presents a measured, chronological examination of competing strategies and fears that have shaped the conflict.
Rather than assigning blame, this film asks a central question: how did a relationship once defined by cooperation evolve into a confrontation, with thousands of lives lost, a devastating impact on the Middle East, and the threat of collapsing the entire global economy as well as the world order as we know it.
Original film title: Iran: The Making of a War
