khvāb-i āshuftahʼi naft Persian 2025

“Khab-e Āshofteh-ye Naft” (The Troubled Dream of Oil) is a four-volume narrative by the well-known historian and man of letters Dr. Mohammad Ali Movahed, published by Karnameh Publishing. In the first volume, Movahed presents materials covering the period from the D’Arcy Concession to the fall of Reza Shah. Volumes two and three focus on issues related to Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh and Iran’s National Movement, while the fourth volume analyzes developments from the 28 Mordad coup to the fall of Zahedi.

In The Troubled Dream of Oil, Movahed bases his account on the legal intricacies and detailed provisions of oil contracts and negotiations, using this lens to examine broader political and historical questions. Owing to the author’s deep expertise—shaped by his academic training in law and political science, his work as editor-in-chief of the National Iranian Oil Company’s newspaper during Mossadegh’s era, and his practical experience as Executive Deputy at OPEC in its early years—the work emerges as a powerful and invaluable study, offering documented, precise historical narratives combined with elegant and compelling prose.

Movahed emphasizes that The Troubled Dream of Oil is, in essence, a story of Iran’s development, unfolding amid a web of major and minor events. Drawing on his knowledge and experience, the author acquaints readers with revealing details of the behind-the-scenes dynamics of the oil movement, Iran’s path of development, and a critical assessment of its challenges and shortcomings.