From coup to conflict – how decades of rivalries and miscalculations have shaped one of today’s most dangerous wars.
Spanning more than seven decades, Iran: The Making of War examines how one of the most consequential conflicts of the modern era came to be.
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.
Published On 1 Aug 2026
