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Each week we decide who's to blame for historical tragedy.

And each week you tell us if we got it right. My name is Rebecca Delgado Smith and this is the aftermath.

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning into this episode of the aftermath. Today we'll be talking with

Dr. Benjamin Rad, UCLA lecturer, an expert on government and politics in the Middle East,

particularly Iran.

Let's hear what he has to say about the Iran hostage crisis.

Hi, Dr. Rad, thank you so much for joining us today.

Hi, thank you for having me.

So can we start off by kind of getting a little background on the

US-Iranian relations pre- 1950s?

So pre-1950s, out of World War II, the United States and the Soviets and the British

had agreed to a sphere of influence that all three would share with regards to Iran.

The British and the Soviets in particular used Iran and Iranian resources as both a supply route

and a staging ground for their opposition to the Nazis and pushing them back, especially in North Africa, but to prevent them from establishing a foothold.

They were concerned that Hitler had become too cozy with Resachah, the first monarch in the Pahnafi dynasty.

In fact, they had visited Iran and the two leaders had good cordial relations,

and the concern was that there be some sort of

access that'd be formed there. So to prevent that they had the Shah removed he

...