Koppel on Discovery/Iran: The Most Dangerous Nation

Iran: The Most Dangerous Nation
Airdate	November 19, 2006
Written by	—
Directed by	—
Network	Discovery Channel
Style	120-minute news documentary
Company	Discovery Channel
Origin	USA
← 1 The Price of Security	3 → Our Children's Children's War
Koppel on Discovery

Iran: The Most Dangerous Nation (2006) is a TV special about the conflict between the governments and people of the United States and Iran.

Host: Ted Koppel

Overview

Ted Koppel travels to Iran—which, since the fall of Saddam Hussein, has become the most feared nation to the United States, to get to know its people, culture and political attitude better. He begins with an overview of US-Iranian relations since the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979, when Iran became a feared nation to the US government, but then he steps further back to 1953, to the rise of the Shah, when the Iranian people first came to distrust America.

Koppel next examines Iranian culture, where he finds a people fascinated with motifs of martyrdom and the underdog. He also finds the Islamic religion central to daily life. He finds greater support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amongst the working class in Central Iran than in the cities, where the young and urbanized are more rebellious and progressive. He also finds a public religious life which does not necessarily mirror the private life, and some surprising facts about Iran's censorship.

He also finds great leftover animosity regarding the Iran-Iraq War and the United States' support of Iraq. Yet economic sanctions against Iran do not seem to be working. He also explores the military option and concludes that open dialogue between the leaders of both countries is more likely to be effective.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Going Home: The trip to Iran was a homecoming of sorts for Ted Koppel, who had become a news star with his coverage of the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979.

• Historic Moment: Due to growing animosity between the United States and Iran, after Koppel's trip to Iran, the country's borders were closed to American journalists.

• Reciprocal Harrassment: On Meet the Press on November 17, 2006, Koppel admitted he and his camera crew had been fingerprinted upon arrival in Iran. When Koppel questioned the border guards as to the necessity of his fingerprinting, he was told it was reciprocation for the United States' use of retinal scans on entering journalists. However, the fingerprint information was thrown away and was only requested to make a point.

Allusions and References

• R2-D2: The short, cylindrical, dome-shaped droid from the Star Wars movies.

Ted Koppel: Let's go to R2-D2 up there. That... that... it looks innocuous enough. What is it?