Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977- 1980, is a themed microfiche collection which presents an integrated record of US foreign policy relating to Iran, 20 Jan 1977-29 Jan 1980. Included are memoranda, cabled messages, US embassy and consulate messages, Department of State reports, Central Intelligence Agency reports, US National Security Council reports and studies, and academic historical and political studies of the Middle East generally and Iran specifically, 21 Jan 1943-30 Apr 1980. Although the focus of this document set is on the 1977-1980 period, nearly one-third of the documents listed in the catalogue relate to the period prior to 1977. These are materials that were used in the preparation of the major internal inter-agency review of US-Iranian relations, the US Department of State 'White Paper'. The collection covers the beginning of the popular protests and mass demonstrations that resulted in the Iranian revolution of Feb 1979, which overthrew the pro-American monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. The collection also covers efforts by the US and the Iranian Provisional Government under Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan to normalise relations between Iran and the US, which were frustrated by challenges from Islamic organisations including the Revolutionary Council. The collection records in detail the US reaction to the Iranian Constitutional Assembly, which pitted secular against religious forces during the drafting of the new constitution and which led to the formal establishment of a theocracy and the loss of Iran as a US strategic ally, Feb-Jun 1979. Documents include US Department of State report detailing the stability of Iran under the Shah and the effectiveness of SAVAK, the Iranian domestic and foreign intelligence agency, as a law enforcement agency, 28 Jan 1977; US Embassy, Teheran, Annual Policy and Resource Assessment report identifying US interests in Iran as stable, 4 Apr 1977; briefing paper for Cyrus Roberts Vance, US Secretary of State, for his first visit with the Shah, 30 Apr 1977; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report affirming the stability of the Iranian political regime, Aug 1977; US Department of State cables relating to the police suppression of anti-Shah demonstrations at Qom, the religious centre of Iran's Shiite community, and the resulting series of mass demonstrations against the Shah, Jan-Dec 1978; US Department of State inspection memorandum describing US relations with Iran as excellent, 4 May 1978; US Department of State memoranda concerning meeting of 13 May 1978, at which chief Iranian military and security personnel devised plans to deal with the rise of anti- government demonstrations, 23 May 1978; cable from William H Sullivan, US Ambassador to Iran, relating to the increasing dissent in Iran and the Shah's fears of the religious opposition to his monarchy presented by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, 1 Jun 1978; US Department of State airgram relating to meeting held between the Shah and Nasser Moghaddam, Director of SAVAK, in which the Shah ordered that all future demonstrations be broken up by force, 22 Jul 1978; US Department of State cable concerning the Iranian armed forces being put on alert in all major towns in Iran following a series of anti-government bombings, 14 Aug 1978; reports from the US Embassy, Teheran, relating to the 'Black Friday' massacre of anti-government protesters in Jelah Square, Teheran, 8 Sep 1978; US Department of State cable relating to riots in Teheran resulting in the destruction of Western businesses and the occupation of the British Embassy, Teheran, 5 Nov 1978; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report relating to the wave of anti-government protests in Iran during the spring of 1978, 5 Nov 1978; US Department of State cable from Ambassador Sullivan to the White House urging the US government to consider that the Shah may have to abdicate in favour of a coalition government, 9 Nov 1978; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) profile of Khomeini describing him as the central figure in the anti-Shah movement and his proposed regime as xenophobic and hostile towards Western interests in the region, 20 Nov 1978; US Embassy reports to Washington, DC, relating to the Shah's departure from Iran, Jan 1979; US Department of State cables relating to the return of Khomeini to Iran from Paris, France, and his subsequent demands for the resignation of the Iranian Provisional Government, Feb 1979; US Embassy reports relating to the establishment of the Islamic Revolutionary Council under the leadership of Khomeini, Feb 1979; US Department of State cables relating to the deteriorating civil situation in Iran and growing anti-US sentiments, culminating in the seizure of the US Embassy, Teheran, and 66 of its employees, Feb-Nov 1979.

Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council, with Special Advisory Reports are microfilmed copies of meeting minutes and Special Advisory Reports undertaken by the US National Security Council, 1947-1960. Material in the collection relates to US strategic nuclear forces capabilities, 1947-60; US policy with respect to Japan, the Soviet Union, China, 1948-49; military assistance to non-communist nations, 1948-49; US policy on atomic warfare, 1948; the Berlin Blockade; the United Nations decision to introduce military forces to Palestine, 1948; US policy towards Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe, 1949; US courses of action with respect to the Republic of Korea, 1950-1953; responsibilities of the Central Intelligence Agency with respect to guerrilla warfare, 1952; US policy and courses of action to counter possible Soviet or satellite action against Berlin, 1952; US objectives and actions to exploit the unrest in the Soviet satellite states, 1953; US courses of action with respect to Latin America, Iran and South Asia, 1953-85; covert operations, 1954-75; nuclear attack warning channel and procedures for civilians, 1955-65; the political implications of Afro-Asian military take-overs, 1959; and US policy towards Cuba, 1959-60. Special Advisory Reports concern Europe, the Soviet Union and its satellites, Latin America, Japan, The Middle East, the People's Republic of China, South East Asia, Angola, North Africa, 1947-1960.

Microfilm copies of official US government reports and US military, scientific, academic and policy journals relating to nuclear weapons, arms control, weapons technology, deterrence, nuclear strategy, and US foreign policy, 1919-1995. The reports have been arranged chronologically and include material relating to non-proliferation treaty safeguards; civil defence in the United States; deterrence theory; analyses of the Soviet Military Industrial Complex; interview transcripts of US government officials associated with weapons systems development and deployment; qualitative and quantitative analyses of the US-Soviet arms race; analyses of the theory of flexible response; nuclear capabilities of the People's Republic of China; North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) missile warning systems, 1968-1981; the Joint Cruise Missiles Project, 1982; the Tonopah Test Range technical manual, 1982; the planning of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) nuclear deterrent for the 1980s and 1990s; French and British nuclear forces in the 1980s and 1990s; the evolution of US and NATO tactical nuclear doctrine and limited nuclear war options, the Strategic Defense Initiative Program (SDI); trends in anti-nuclear protests in the US; US National Security Policy, 1980s; the threat of nuclear terrorism; the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; anti-satellite weaponry; the threat of biological and chemical weapons. Official US government reports include report to the US Congress relating to stockpile reliability, weapons re-manufacture, and the role of nuclear testing, 1987; report to the US Congress on the Strategic Defense Initiative, 1989; Nevada Test Site Annual Site Environmental Report, 1989; report on the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START), including the text of the treaty and a number of related documents and protocols, 1991; the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations, 1993; the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency report to the US Congress, 1994; US Department of Energy reports relating to the disposal and storage of fissile materials, 1995.

A themed microfilm collection relating to US State Department interpretations of Soviet foreign affairs, 1945-1959. Included in the collection are US State Department files relating to the repatriation of German prisoners of war from the Soviet Union following World War Two; Soviet boundary disputes involving the People's Republic of China, Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran Romania, and Turkey; Soviet economic, non-aggression, and peace treaties with the People's Republic of China; Soviet funds raised from enemy property in Germany and Austria; Soviet political relations with the Republic of South Korea and the People's Republic of Korea; Soviet alliances or friendship treaties with Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, Burma, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Pakistan, Syria, Thailand, and the United States, 1945-1959.