This presentation appraises US-Iranian diplomacy through race relations and human rights. Intellectuals of the post-Mosaddeq era gave voice to an anti-colonial rhetoric that burst wide open during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Many writers, some with socialist leanings, watched with interest political happenings in formerly colonized states. These conflicts were often rooted in experiences of racial discrimination and social inequality. At the same time, the Iranian state also engaged with some of these themes and expanded its diplomatic relations with a range of countries in the Global South. Although state-to-state ties between Iran and America were strengthened during the two decades preceding the 1979 revolution, social dissent also grew strident. The debate on human rights gave voice to these concerns as Iran’s politicians and writers reflected on the legacy of human rights and reassessed the country’s ties to the United States and the West. Race relations provided an unanticipated and often missed opportunity for collaboration.

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