Persia under the Shah

This is an amateur movie of Iran before the Mullahs got their mitts on the country and turned a delightful country into a nightmare.

Inside the Persecuted Church of Iran | Documentary Series Pt. 2

May 2, 2023 | What is it like being a Christian in Iran? In this episode of Neighborhoods and Nations, Steven Morales speaks to Iranian Christians about Iran’s secret church. Nima Alizadeh, an Iranian Christian, tells us about the persecution that Christians face in Tehran.

Part 1.

Hard to Reach: Why Christianity Is Booming in Iran (Even under the Islamic Regime) | Documentary Series Pt. 1

Apr 25, 2023 | Iran is one of only three Islamic Republics in the world. And when you get down to it, you can see how it doesn’t actually function like a republic… but here’s why this matters. For the last 40 years, politics and religion in Iran have been one and the same. It’s the Islamic Republic of Iran. So the main religion is Islam. So you can’t have any other religion other than Islam. So when you are born in Iran, you are told you are Muslim. You have to practice Islam and that’s your religion by birth. Islam is not a choice, it’s what you’re forcibly born into, and in people’s minds: the rules of the government and the rules of Islam are the same thing. There is no separation between the church and state.

Persia before Khomeini - The History of Iran in 15 Minutes of Perfectly-restored Film Material

Premiered Aug 27, 2021

Iran under the Pahlavi Dynasty: The Heirs of Cyrus the Great | Full Documentary, 1974 | Scanned in 4K

Premiered Nov 10, 2022 | Our newly-scanned documentary in 4K-resolution from 1974 shows the state of Persia in the early 20th Century and rise to power of the Pahlavi Dynasty, the founding of the modern Imperial State of Iran with political and cultural changes to the everyday life, as well as its fate in World War II and the Cold War under the forced outside influence of the global superpowers and further societal modernisation under Shah Mohammad Reza until shortly before the outbreak of the Iranian Revolution.

Queen in Persia | 1961

The Last Persian Shah | Full Movie

Feb 25, 2021 • Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi would have been 100 years in October 2019. “The Shah's story begins with good ideas and ideals and ends in bloody chaos”.

On the one hand, he helped carry Iran into modernity. His wealth was legendary, and his marriages made tabloid headlines for years. However, his name also stands for a time of human rights violations, vicious oppression and intolerance.

Directed By: Holger Preuße

Persia before Khomeini : The History of Iran in 15 Minutes of Perfectly-restored Film Material

Premiered Aug 27, 2021 • This documentary has been re-edited out from CHRONOS-documentaries "The Heirs of Cyrus the Great" (1974), "Politics of Oil" (1980) and super-8 home movies by Irmgard and Bengt von zur Mühlen.

Since the 1960s filmmaker-couple Irmgard and Bengt von zur Mühlen have been producing and directing documentaries about history and the countries of this world. Many of the more than five hundred films from the CHRONOS-company received international recognition (e.g. two Oscar nominations).

Islamic Conquest of Persia

The Pahlavi Crown: التاج الپهلوی
Photo of ‘The Pahlavi Crown’ courtesy of the Iran Chamber Society
IRAN CHAMBER SOCIETY: This crown was used by Reza Shah, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, in his coronation on 25 April 1926. His son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, also used the crown in his coronation on 26 Oct. 1967.

The crown was designed and built by a group of Iranian jewellers, under the supervision of Haj Serajeddin, the famous jeweller who had been in the employ of the Amir of Bokhara and had later emigrated from the Soviet Union to Iran. The stones were selected from loose stones in the treasury.

The crown made of red velvet, gold, and silver. It has a total height of 29.8 cm. and has a width of 19.8 cm. It weighs 2,080 grams. The are 3,380 diamonds employed on the crown, totalling 1,144 cts. The largest is a brilliant-cut yellow diamond of 60 cts. which is located in the center of the front jewel sunburst. There are also 369 perfectly-matching natural pearls in three rows on the crown. Of the 5 emeralds, totalling 200 cts., the largest is approximately 100 cts. The largest sapphire is 20 cts.

The design of the crown incorporates a motif of the Sassanid dynasty, which ruled over the Persian Empire from the 3rd through the 7th centuries AD. [Source: Iran Chamber Society]

Beautiful Persia: Northern Iran

The Pahlavi Crown: التاج الپهلوی
Photo of ‘The Pahlavi Crown’ courtesy of the Iran Chamber Society
IRAN CHAMBER SOCIETY: This crown was used by Reza Shah, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, in his coronation on 25 April 1926. His son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, also used the crown in his coronation on 26 Oct. 1967.

The crown was designed and built by a group of Iranian jewellers, under the supervision of Haj Serajeddin, the famous jeweller who had been in the employ of the Amir of Bokhara and had later emigrated from the Soviet Union to Iran. The stones were selected from loose stones in the treasury.

The crown made of red velvet, gold, and silver. It has a total height of 29.8 cm. and has a width of 19.8 cm. It weighs 2,080 grams. The are 3,380 diamonds employed on the crown, totalling 1,144 cts. The largest is a brilliant-cut yellow diamond of 60 cts. which is located in the center of the front jewel sunburst. There are also 369 perfectly-matching natural pearls in three rows on the crown. Of the 5 emeralds, totalling 200 cts., the largest is approximately 100 cts. The largest sapphire is 20 cts.

The design of the crown incorporates a motif of the Sassanid dynasty, which ruled over the Persian Empire from the 3rd through the 7th centuries AD. [Source: Iran Chamber Society]