What is wrong with America and Iran?
During the Easter holidays of 2017, Will Bell went to Iran on holiday with his family. While there, he learnt a lot about why there are rising tensions with the US, and why it’s important that we educate ourselves on these reasons. He explains all.
Iran has been in the news a lot recently, from the airstrike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, to the Iranians shooting down a Ukrainian airplane, causing large protests in the streets against the Ayatollah - a powerful religious leader in Shia Islam and the Supreme Leader of Iran. However, this is far from the first time the US has had conflict with Iran.
Tensions with the US have been brewing for over half a century, with both sides making moves against the other. It began in 1953, when the CIA and British intelligence staged a coup and overthrew Mohammed Mossadeq, Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, as he was trying to nationalise the nation’s oil. This ensured western control of the oil so the Soviets couldn’t take it. The Iranians weren’t happy about this and, in 1979, they orchestrated the Iranian Revolution. Shah (Persian king) Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, following months of strikes against him, evacuated to the US. Just two weeks later, he was replaced by Ayatollah Khomeini, who returned to Iran after being exiled 15 years earlier.
From 1979-81, the notorious US Embassy Hostage Crisis took place, where Iranian protestors invaded the US Embassy in Tehran, the nation’s capital, in November 1979, and held 52 hostages inside, for 444 days. They released them in January 1981, but six Americans, who escaped the building the day of the invasion and hid in the Canadian Embassy, were smuggled out by a team posing as filmmakers. In 2012, this event was made into the film ‘Argo’, which later won an Oscar for best picture at the February 2013 Academy Awards.
Fast forward a few years, to 1985, and the infamous Iran-Contra Scandal took place. This will require an explanation. This was the height of the Cold War, and anti-communist sentiment in the US was at its strongest. Around this time, the CIA, under President Ronald Reagan, started training and assisting anti-communist groups around the world. Reagan’s favourite of these groups were the Contras from Nicaragua, and once called them ‘the moral equal of our founding fathers’. However, most of the Contras’ funding came from the cocaine trade. As a response to this, congress passed the Boland Amendment, which forbid the CIA or the department of defence from funding any groups who are trying to overthrow the government of Nicaragua. However, Reagan told his national security advisor, Robert McFarlane, to fund the Contras anyway. They found a way to do this when an Iranian government-backed terrorist group held seven Americans captive in Lebanon. Despite Reagan publicly admitting that he would never make a deal with terrorists, and the fact that there was an embargo on trade with Iran, Reagan forged a deal that said that America would give the Iranians $30 million worth of weapons in exchange for the hostages.
But this was only the beginning. The CIA was funnelling money for the weapons and using it to fund the Contras. In 1986, a Lebanese magazine wrote about the deal and the cat was out of the bag. The US attorney general investigated and found that only $12 million was being used to buy weapons for Iran, the other $18 million being used to fund the Contras.
Furthermore, on the 3rd July 1988, the US made a despicable move: they shot down an Iran air passenger plane flying in Iranian airspace with the warship USS Vincennes, killing all 290 men, women & children on board, some of whom were Islamic pilgrims on their way to Mecca. They said that they mistook it for a fighter jet and that it was an accident. And, admittedly, it probably was. However, no official repercussions payment was made. Ronald Reagan apologised to Iran for the incident. However, George W Bush, who was running for president at the time, said that he would “never apologise for the United States of America.”
In the 2000s, tensions were running higher between the US and Iran. In 2002, it was discovered that Iran was developing nuclear facilities and uranium enrichment plants. The US accused Iran of developing a secret nuclear weapons program and Iran denied this, claiming that it was peaceful. Between 2005 & 2013, the United Nations, the US and the EU imposed several sanctions against Iran because of its ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
But during the early 2010s, tensions were slowly falling. In September of 2013, moderate president Hassan Rouhani was initiated into Iranian office, and he formed an alliance with president Barrack Obama. They even had a direct phone call to discuss a nuclear deal, which hadn’t happened between two presidents for 30 years. In 2015, Rouhani agreed to Obama’s nuclear deal, where the US would end the hard sanctions against them, and Iran would continue to build nuclear facilities, but on a much smaller scale. Diplomatically, the relationship between America and Iran was the best it had been in decades.
But, as you can tell, this didn’t last long. In May 2018, president Donald Trump scrapped Obama’s nuclear deal, and resumed with the hard sanctions against Iran, and threatened to do the same to anyone who bought oil from them. Iran’s economy recessed greatly and things only got worse. One year later, in May 2019, the US strengthened the sanctions on Iranian oil. In response, Iran started a counter-pressure campaign. This escalated that same month, when explosions hit six American oil tankers and the US blames Iran. One month later, on the 20th June, an American drone is shot down over the Strait of Hormuz. The US claimed that it was over international waters, while Iran said it was in their territory.
On 3 January 2020, the US conducted an airstrike in Iraq which killed Iran’s top military general Qasem Soleimani. Iran vowed ‘severe revenge’ and then pulled out of the nuclear deal altogether. Five days later, on 8 January, Iran shot down a Ukranian airplane. It took a few days, but eventually, after claiming that the plane was faulty, Iran admitted to shooting it down. And now, protests are raging through the country against the Ayatollah and the government.
Iran’s history with the US has been a roller-coaster of hypocrisy, lies and corruption, and it looks like it’s only going to get worse from here. President Trump doesn’t seem likely to give up, all other countries are too scared to help for fear of US sanctions and it looks like Iran is on the brink of a revolution. But no matter who you are supporting in this story, it is important that you know, and recognise, both sides of the story.
Will Bell, year 11
Iran has been in the news a lot recently, from the airstrike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, to the Iranians shooting down a Ukrainian airplane, causing large protests in the streets against the Ayatollah - a powerful religious leader in Shia Islam and the Supreme Leader of Iran. However, this is far from the first time the US has had conflict with Iran.
Tensions with the US have been brewing for over half a century, with both sides making moves against the other. It began in 1953, when the CIA and British intelligence staged a coup and overthrew Mohammed Mossadeq, Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, as he was trying to nationalise the nation’s oil. This ensured western control of the oil so the Soviets couldn’t take it. The Iranians weren’t happy about this and, in 1979, they orchestrated the Iranian Revolution. Shah (Persian king) Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, following months of strikes against him, evacuated to the US. Just two weeks later, he was replaced by Ayatollah Khomeini, who returned to Iran after being exiled 15 years earlier.
From 1979-81, the notorious US Embassy Hostage Crisis took place, where Iranian protestors invaded the US Embassy in Tehran, the nation’s capital, in November 1979, and held 52 hostages inside, for 444 days. They released them in January 1981, but six Americans, who escaped the building the day of the invasion and hid in the Canadian Embassy, were smuggled out by a team posing as filmmakers. In 2012, this event was made into the film ‘Argo’, which later won an Oscar for best picture at the February 2013 Academy Awards.
Fast forward a few years, to 1985, and the infamous Iran-Contra Scandal took place. This will require an explanation. This was the height of the Cold War, and anti-communist sentiment in the US was at its strongest. Around this time, the CIA, under President Ronald Reagan, started training and assisting anti-communist groups around the world. Reagan’s favourite of these groups were the Contras from Nicaragua, and once called them ‘the moral equal of our founding fathers’. However, most of the Contras’ funding came from the cocaine trade. As a response to this, congress passed the Boland Amendment, which forbid the CIA or the department of defence from funding any groups who are trying to overthrow the government of Nicaragua. However, Reagan told his national security advisor, Robert McFarlane, to fund the Contras anyway. They found a way to do this when an Iranian government-backed terrorist group held seven Americans captive in Lebanon. Despite Reagan publicly admitting that he would never make a deal with terrorists, and the fact that there was an embargo on trade with Iran, Reagan forged a deal that said that America would give the Iranians $30 million worth of weapons in exchange for the hostages.
But this was only the beginning. The CIA was funnelling money for the weapons and using it to fund the Contras. In 1986, a Lebanese magazine wrote about the deal and the cat was out of the bag. The US attorney general investigated and found that only $12 million was being used to buy weapons for Iran, the other $18 million being used to fund the Contras.
Furthermore, on the 3rd July 1988, the US made a despicable move: they shot down an Iran air passenger plane flying in Iranian airspace with the warship USS Vincennes, killing all 290 men, women & children on board, some of whom were Islamic pilgrims on their way to Mecca. They said that they mistook it for a fighter jet and that it was an accident. And, admittedly, it probably was. However, no official repercussions payment was made. Ronald Reagan apologised to Iran for the incident. However, George W Bush, who was running for president at the time, said that he would “never apologise for the United States of America.”
In the 2000s, tensions were running higher between the US and Iran. In 2002, it was discovered that Iran was developing nuclear facilities and uranium enrichment plants. The US accused Iran of developing a secret nuclear weapons program and Iran denied this, claiming that it was peaceful. Between 2005 & 2013, the United Nations, the US and the EU imposed several sanctions against Iran because of its ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
But during the early 2010s, tensions were slowly falling. In September of 2013, moderate president Hassan Rouhani was initiated into Iranian office, and he formed an alliance with president Barrack Obama. They even had a direct phone call to discuss a nuclear deal, which hadn’t happened between two presidents for 30 years. In 2015, Rouhani agreed to Obama’s nuclear deal, where the US would end the hard sanctions against them, and Iran would continue to build nuclear facilities, but on a much smaller scale. Diplomatically, the relationship between America and Iran was the best it had been in decades.
But, as you can tell, this didn’t last long. In May 2018, president Donald Trump scrapped Obama’s nuclear deal, and resumed with the hard sanctions against Iran, and threatened to do the same to anyone who bought oil from them. Iran’s economy recessed greatly and things only got worse. One year later, in May 2019, the US strengthened the sanctions on Iranian oil. In response, Iran started a counter-pressure campaign. This escalated that same month, when explosions hit six American oil tankers and the US blames Iran. One month later, on the 20th June, an American drone is shot down over the Strait of Hormuz. The US claimed that it was over international waters, while Iran said it was in their territory.
On 3 January 2020, the US conducted an airstrike in Iraq which killed Iran’s top military general Qasem Soleimani. Iran vowed ‘severe revenge’ and then pulled out of the nuclear deal altogether. Five days later, on 8 January, Iran shot down a Ukranian airplane. It took a few days, but eventually, after claiming that the plane was faulty, Iran admitted to shooting it down. And now, protests are raging through the country against the Ayatollah and the government.
Iran’s history with the US has been a roller-coaster of hypocrisy, lies and corruption, and it looks like it’s only going to get worse from here. President Trump doesn’t seem likely to give up, all other countries are too scared to help for fear of US sanctions and it looks like Iran is on the brink of a revolution. But no matter who you are supporting in this story, it is important that you know, and recognise, both sides of the story.
Will Bell, year 11