What most Americans remember about US/Iranian history — at least those who remember anything — is the revolutionary takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979. This, most believe, is the single sin in the relationship between the two nations. Iran, therefore, is the villain.
Granted much of the full history is not within the memories of most living people, but it’s recorded in history books everywhere. And while it’s certainly not a requisite for citizenship to be well informed about things like this, it sure doesn’t hurt. Knowledge tends to keep people from drawing inaccurate conclusions.
So, a very brief review of history is in order, issues the Iranians certainly might remember but which the West chooses to forget. They’re the kind of things that would make people angry, and that anger would be passed down through generations — sorta like Remember the Alamo or Remember Pearl Harbor.
Back in the 1920s, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, now British Petroleum, agreed to share its profits (85% British-15% Iran), but as time went by the company withheld their financial records from the Iranian government. Because of this duplicity, in 1952 popularly elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq moved to nationalize its holding of what was at the time the British Empire’s largest company, and the Iranian Parliament agreed unanimously. Following this, the US and Britain attempted to instigate a coup against Mossadeq and re-install the Shah. The coup failed, and the Shah fled into exile.
However, a later coup succeeded, which brought the Shah back. His reign descended into a dictatorship, which eventually led to the Iranian Revolution and the seizure of our embassy. In the decade following, we took Iraq’s — and Saddam’s — side in its war with Iran. So is it any wonder that the Iranians are embittered against us and the West?
What I would recommend is that at least one courageous presidential candidate remind Americans of this history and propose that rather than posturing and threatening Iran we apologize for our past mistakes and perhaps promise never to meddle in their politics again. I certainly wouldn’t expect the current administration to do this, but if the world saw there was at least some sanity here, our credibility might improve a bit.
Liberal Buzz 