About this episode

The episode discusses the role of natural gas in Iran's development and its impact on national identity and resource nationalism.

Between the late 1940s and the end of the twentieth century, natural gas became Iran's bedrock energy source. Billed as a futuristic fuel for a future world power, gas became an avenue for the country's developmentalist ambitions. The ability to build technologically sophisticated infrastructures served as a powerful tool of state legitimation, both before and after the 1979 Revolution, and tied top-down politics of modernization to bottom-up feelings of national belonging. Accelerant: Energy Infrastructures and the Natural World in Making Modern Iran (Stanford UP, 2026) analyzes the interwoven histories of energy, development, and the environment inIran. Following the movement of natural gas from underground deposits, through infrastructures of refining and distribution, and into everyday life, Ciruce Movahedi-Lankarani explores the roles of development planners, oil firms, industrialists, engineers, and consumers—as well as the mountain ranges, sedimentary rock, and natural gas itself—to show how natural gas emerged as a crucial enabler of industrialization and a strong impetus for resource nationalism. Tracing the transformation of gas from a waste product into a vital…

People in this episode

Guest: Ciruce A. Movahedi-Lankarani

Topics covered

• energy infrastructure
• modern Iran
• natural gas
• development
• resource nationalism
• environmental history

Keywords

• natural gas
• Iran
• energy
• industrialization
• developmentalism
• environment
• fossil fuels

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford UP

Books & works: Accelerant: Energy Infrastructures and the Natural World in Making Modern Iran

Places: Iran

More episodes of New Books in Iranian Studies

• Massoud Amin, "Both Your Houses: Iran, America, and the Wages of Unchecked Power" (Wisdom Editions, 2026) · July 15, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Alex Boodrookas, "Comrades Estranged: Labor and Citizenship in the Twentieth-Century Persian Gulf" (Stanford UP, 2026) · June 20, 2026 · 54 min

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