Ali Ansari

Ali Ansari is Professor in Modern History with reference to the Middle East at the University of St Andrews, where he is founding director of the Institute for Iranian studies.

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Saints Talk: Iran, A Short History

Professor Ansari discusses the contribution of ancient, Islamic and Western influences on the development of Iranian identity, the relationship between myth and history, and how distinct ideas of ‘Iran’ and ‘Persia’ have merged and impact our appreciation of Iran today.

The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran

The 2017 Mirhady Endowed Lecture

Britain and the British Question:
Iranian Nationalists and the Idea of Britain

Professor Ali Ansari discusses the impact of Iranian-British relations and British political ideology on Iranian nationalists and their concept of ‘nation’ in nineteenth-century Iran and beyond.