The Man who Changed the World

Synopsis

Militant Islam enjoyed its first modern triumph with the arrival in power of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in 1979. In this series of three programmes, key figures tell the inside story.

Former US president Jimmy Carter talks on television for the first time about the episode that, more than any other, led American voters to eject him from the presidency. Iran's seizure of the US embassy in Tehran and the holding of its staff for 444 days took more and more of Carter's time and energy. His final days in office were dominated by desperate attempts to secure the release of the embassy hostages. Those who sat in the White House with him, planning how to rescue the hostages, how to negotiate their release and, finally, wondering whether anything could be rescued from the disaster, all tell their part in the story.

Other contributors include former vice president Walter Mondale, ex-deputy secretary of state Warren Christopher and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. The other side of the story is told by top Iranians: Ayatollah Khomeini's close adviser, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri; his first foreign minister, Ebrahim Yazdi; his negotiator with the US, Sadeq Tabatabai; and the founder of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mohsen Rafiqdoust.

Credits

Participant

Jimmy Carter

Participant

Walter Mondale

Participant

Warren Christopher

Participant

Mohsen Rafiqdoust

Director

Dai Richards

Producer

Dai Richards

Producer

Norma Percy

Broadcasts

1. Sat 7 Feb 2009
   21:00
   BBC Two
2. Thu 12 Feb 2009
   23:50
   BBC Two (England only)
3. Fri 13 Feb 2009
   00:20
   BBC Two (except England)
4. Sat 14 Feb 2009
   02:15
   BBC One
5. Sat 4 Jul 2009
   21:00
   BBC Four