Commentary: American Intervention in Iran has a Long, Unfortunate History
The Santa Fe New Mexican › March 28, 2005
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Summary
The Bush administration faces a dilemma. It is in part of America's own making. The problem is Iran, an ancient, proud civilization of more than 67 million people. The second largest Muslim country in the Middle East, Iran also sits on top of one of the world's largest known oil reserves.
From the U.S. perspective, U.S.-Iranian relations have been at rock-bottom since the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis, when radical Iranian students held 52 American diplomats captive for more than 14 months. The immediate cause of the students' ire was President Jimmy Carter's decision to allow Reza Pahlavi, the ailing shah and second Pahlavi to rule Iran, into the United States for medical treatment. In reality, however, the students' wrath can be traced to events in Iranian history that happened before their birth.See the full content of this document
Extract
Commentary: American Intervention in Iran has a Long, Unfortunate History
The best single account of this sordid tale is found in Stephen Kinzer's All the Shah's Men, published in 2003. Herein is the crux of the still relevant story.
At various times during the past two centuries, Great Britain, Russia and the United States have intervened in Iranian politics. In the early part of the 20th c...See the full content of this document
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