President Truman and Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran (1951)

From Friends to Foes is a documentary that takes a new look at Iran-US relations over the past 100 years. Far from being dry and academic, this is a fascinating story – a compelling tale of assassinations, kidnapping, secret missions, espionage and murder; of a continuous struggle for supremacy and indeed the survival of a nation.

Few Americans know that in the early 20th century Iran was a much sought after “colony” by both Russia and Great Britain.  Ironically, it was the United States that kept both these countries at bay, helping Iran to maintain its independence.  For 50 years the U.S. was considered a friend of the Iranian people. That is until 1953, when the British and the Americans worked behind the scenes to overthrow Iran’s democratically-elected government and install a deposed Shah. Opposition leaders were imprisoned and the divisions between the U.S. and Iran continued unabated until the revolt of 1977-1978. The overthrow of the Shah quickly turned into the Islamic revolution in 1979, which was followed, in 1980, by the Iranian hostage crisis and the complete severing of relations between Iran and the U.S. These tensions are still high, as evidenced by the naval game of cat and mouse in the Strait of Hormuz incident on Sunday, January 6, 2008.

	President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran (interview with Bigan Saliani on September 26 2007)

How fundamental are the issues that divide the two countries?  Are they based on cultural and political misunderstandings or hard facts?  Iranian-American filmmaker Bigan Saliani, in association with Pacific Street Films, has developed From Friends to Foes to explore the policies that divide Iran and the United States, principally the nuclear weapons issue. The film will present the current stand-off in an historical context that, hopefully, will lead to a better understanding between these two former “friends.”