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Intelligence professional and Substack author Sharon Bibee joins us to begin our new series on the complicated history of U.S.-Iran relations. We travel back to Qajar Persia, where Iran was caught between the competing ambitions of the British and Russian Empires.

Along the way, we meet two Americans who played surprising roles in Iran's Constitutional Revolution: missionary and teacher Howard Baskerville, remembered as Iran's "American Lafayette," and lawyer William Shuster, whose efforts to reform Iran's finances brought him into conflict with the foreign powers dominating the country. We also examine the devastating famine of 1918-1919 and the forces that shaped Iran's relationship with the West.

For a more immersive experience while you listen, visit our image gallery for this series at https://www.usofamnesia.com/blog/image-gallery-for-the-us-and-iran-what-went-wrong/.

For more from Sharon, read her column, "Redacted No More," in which she explores history, politics, travel, culture, and whatever else sparks her curiosity. You can find it on Substack at https://sharonbibee.substack.com/.

Rimsky-Korsakov., "Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite, Op. 35, The Young Prince And Princess," the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux, violin solo by Naoum Blinder, from Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rimsky-Korsakov._Scheherazade,_Symphonic_Suite,_Op._35_-_03_The_Young_Prince_And_Princess.ogg), used under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license.