ABSTRACT
This chapter will reveal an untold story about jockeying for control of a strategic resource, bringing to light a new narrative about the formation of the copper industry in Iran. The structure of this chapter is arranged to present the importance of the copper industry, specifically in the Sarcheshmeh area, and its impact on the country’s economic and military development during the prerevolution period. The history of Sarcheshmeh is explained from its inception, and the chapter discusses the involvement of the British Selection Trust company, which had been operating in the then-colony of Southern Rhodesia, in discovering the great wealth of the deposit. It will assess the endeavors of giant multinational copper companies in an international exchange arena to obtain access to this industry at Sarcheshmeh by forming a copper consortium, resembling the Iranian oil consortium. It is revealed how and why the 1970s Iran–US relations affected the realisation and development of the Sarcheshmeh complex with the assistance of the United States. This chapter will disclose how the newly elected president of the United States, Richard Nixon, and his close relationship with the shah of Iran brought the relations between the countries to a new phase that the shah had desired to achieve for years.
