WANA (Oct 30) – For more than a century, every time Iran has tried to take an independent step toward industrialization — whether in oil, steel, or nuclear energy — it has faced resistance from the West. From the Qajar era to the nuclear talks of today, one pattern has remained strikingly consistent: whenever Iran wants to build, the West prefers it to buy.
The Black Gold They Said Was Useless
In the early 1900s, an Iranian official named Kitabchi Khan traveled to Europe and informed the British that oil might exist in southern Iran. Soon after, Iran’s prime minister granted British businessman William Knox D’Arcy an exclusive concession for oil exploration.
At the time, Qajar officials had little understanding of oil’s real value. The British, reassuringly, told them that “this black, foul-smelling substance” was of no use anyway.
Decades later, when Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized Iran’s oil industry to reclaim it from British control, London — with Washington’s help — responded by orchestrating the 1953 coup that overthrew his government and restored Western access to Iranian oil.
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Social media / WANA News Agency
“Steel Is Not in Your Interest”
The same pattern reappeared in the 1960s. As Iran sought to establish its first steel plant, it approached several Western partners — including the United States and Germany. All refused.
Abdolhamid Sheibani, who headed operations for the Esfahan Steel Project during the Pahlavi era, later recalled: “They officially wrote to the Iranian government, saying it was not in your interest to invest in the steel industry.”
Sheibani, who also worked under the U.S.-sponsored “Point Four Program,” said he was shocked to read in the program’s handbook that its goal was not to accelerate Iran’s economic growth but merely to maintain “a one percent rate of progress — enough to keep people hopeful.” The same document explicitly prohibited American advisers from recommending any industrial projects to the Iranian government.
People walk past a billboard with a picture of nuclear scientists killed in Israeli strikes and Iranian centrifuges, on a street in Tehran, Iran August 29, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
Nuclear Power: The Modern Version of an Old Dispute
Today, the same mindset persists under a different name. For two decades, Western governments have repeatedly objected to Iran’s nuclear program — sometimes negotiating over enrichment levels, other times demanding its complete suspension.
Ironically, even during the Shah’s reign — when Iran was a close Western ally — Washington opposed Tehran’s ambitions for a full-scale nuclear program. The rhetoric has changed, but the argument remains the same.
A Historical Pattern of Containment
Viewed across time, Iran’s industrial experience reflects a deeper geopolitical logic: Western powers have long preferred a dependent Iran — a nation that consumes rather than produces.
In 1901, they said oil was useless. In the 1960s, they said steel wasn’t in Iran’s interest. Today, they say nuclear energy is too risky. If history is any guide, the next debate may come when Iran advances in artificial intelligence or biotechnology — with new technologies but the same old logic.