A Ghoul at the Gates: Natural Gas Energy and the Environment in Pahlavi Iran, 1960–1979

Abstract In the 1960s and 1970s, Iranian officials embraced natural gas as a new energy source for their rapidly industrializing society, seeing it readily available substitute lucrative oil products country's citizens were consuming in increasing amounts. Reacting to growing concentrations of smoke haze cities, unable alter mountainous terrain semiarid climate that intensified them, seemingly promised be technical savior upon which build an Iran environmentally sound was prosperous, technologically sophisticated, hungry. Pahlavi-era developmental choices shaped by officials’ concern deteriorating environmental conditions, factors compounded issue, interests private industry. Using archival published materials collected Iran, this article focuses on urban air pollution fitful efforts mitigate through conversion industrial facilities gas.