The contentious relationship between the United States and Iran remains one of the longest-running soap operas of modern politics. The story swings from hatred to friendship, with broken promises, treacherous betrayals, blackmail, public antagonism and covert rapprochement. In a new plot twist, some Iranian opposition leaders claim that Washington has cut a deal with Iran’s conservatives that would effectively trade democracy… return to article
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Reader Comments (19)Page 1 of 1 pagesI think the journalist should not fear
the united states will let the reformers in Iran be ignored. Once the Iaq situation is taken care of, the United States will try to solve situations in other parts of the Middle East to create a lasting peace in the region. Iran will be high on the list. With the reformers in Iran, this is the country that has the most realistic chance of becoming a real democracy, much more than Iraq. The U.S., in no way wants the ayatollah’s and fundamentalists in control of Iran. They are one of the major contributors to hezbollah. America does not want terrorists groups like that in the area. Have no fear America will be onthe way to rid Iran of the fundamentalists and pave the way for a free Iran.
Posted by bob janzen on Jan 21, 2003 at 6:14 AM The problem with this is that dealing with Iran and Iraq at the same time is like walking and chewing gum. Is Iran’s support for the war on terror so crucial that we need to deal with the conservatives?
Posted by Dave on Jan 22, 2003 at 3:53 PM My wife is from Iran and has not been back since she left in 1976 just before the Islamic takeover of the country. She relates the hatred of the people for the Shah and also toward the CIA for its coup in 1953. Her father had a portrait of Mossadegh which he had to keep hidden during the Shah’s reign.
Her family still lives in Iran and she also has a brother who lives here in the US but goes back to Iran every year and he relates that the people are indeed fed up with the mullahs. He also says that if the US supports the hardliners they will lose the goodwill that most Iranians have for the US. They LOVE the US and if this government backs the hardliners I believe that what this article has said will unfortunately and sadly come to pass.
There are many in Iran that feel that the US had a lot to do with the regime that is now in place because they don’t want any democracies in the Middle East that would endanger the US hegemony over the area.
Posted by Mark on Jan 23, 2003 at 4:01 AM One would have to be excessively soft between the ears to believe that the current U.S. regime wants anything resembling actual democracy anywhere in the “Middle East.”
The only nominal democracy in that region, Israel, is a democracy much like the U.S. was in its seminal years of the late 18th century. Those who have rights, including a vote, are outnumbered by those who live within the direct sphere of influence of the state and have little to no rights. Furthermore, the ‘interests’ of Israel are the ‘interests’ of the U.S.
That said, U.S. foreign policy makers are aware that true democracies tend to look out for the majority of their own citizens, and that usually necessitates getting maximum compensation for their countries’ exports. Iraq, for example, could not function as a free democracy if it were not selling its oil and keeping the lion’s share of the profits at home. The U.S. government has always been aware of this, which is why they supported Saddam Hussein in the first place.
If the U.S. is truly interested in reaching toward social justice in the Middle East, it will pursue policies that benefit that aim, rather than pursuing policies that fatten the bottom lines of its multinational corporations (especially ‘defense-’ and oil-related corporations).
Posted by Samuel A. Holloway on Jan 27, 2003 at 5:17 PM I completely agree with the content of the article. Unfortunately U.S. foreign policies have always been hypocritical especially towards Iran. The biggest mistake of the U.S. as the article mentioned was toppling the secular and democratic government of Dr. Mossadegh in 1953 because of west’s interests in oil.
One more important issue is that the west especially the U.S. has never understood the differences between Iran and Arab states of the region. Iran as many people in the west don’t know is a non-Arab state with a different history and culture. Iran has always been Iran (Persia) at least for the last 2500 years, while most of the Arab countries in the region have existed since the World War I. They were all Sheikh Dom’s before. A call for democracy in Iran began 100 years ago when the Iranian constitutional revolution took place. But sadly all the uprisings for democracy in Iran since then have been suffocated by the big powers. The Iranian people are ready and mature to establish democracy in Iran. Unfortunately the Arab neighbors do have enough history and experience upon that phenomenon. A quick look at the backward governments of Persian Gulf Arab states shows that reality. That’s why Iran should never be compared and dealt with like the other countries in the region. Another big mistake for America was to include Iran along with Iraq and North Korea in one axis of evil.
Posted by Amir Naghshineh-pour on Feb 5, 2003 at 10:53 PM I completely agree with the content of the article. Unfortunately U.S. foreign policies have always been hypocritical especially towards Iran. The biggest mistake of the U.S. as the article mentioned was toppling the secular and democratic government of Dr. Mossadegh in 1953 because of west’s interests in oil.
One more important issue is that the west especially the U.S. has never understood the differences between Iran and Arab states of the region. Iran as many people in the west don’t know is a non-Arab state with a different history and culture. Iran has always been Iran (Persia) at least for the last 2500 years, while most of the Arab countries in the region have existed since World War I. They were all Sheikh Dom’s before. A call for democracy in Iran began 100 years ago when the Iranian constitutional revolution took place. But sadly all the uprisings for democracy in Iran since then have been suffocated by the big powers. The Iranian people are ready and mature to establish democracy in Iran. Unfortunately the Arab neighbors do not have enough history and experience upon that phenomenon. A quick look at the backward governments of Persian Gulf Arab states shows that reality. That’s why Iran should never be compared and dealt with like the other countries in the region. Another big mistake for America was to include Iran along with Iraq and North Korea in one axis of evil.
Posted by Amir Naghshineh-pour on Feb 5, 2003 at 10:56 PM The theory of USA having secret deals with hardliners is totally baseless. Hardliners are the product of the coup of 53 that are per say radical guardians. I think USA has no plans for Iran except breaking the independence and preventing reforms. USA has never been for a strong nation in the middle east. In the Mr. Bush’s administration specially, religeous right, big military and oil is the main policy. All the mentioned points is against a free, indempendent, democratic and strong Iran. Is US making a mistake? Not in the short term. However, it is a grave mistake in the long term since Iran is promoting stability in the region and US should come to terms with that and have peace with Iran.
Sincerely,
Hess Aletaha
Posted by Hess Aletaha on Feb 6, 2003 at 12:02 AM Excellant article! Thank you for it. I’ll spread it around as much as I can. Why is it that somehow I am not suprised? Let us help ahura mazda keep on fighting ahriman!
Posted by mehran@mjam.freeserve.co.uk on Feb 6, 2003 at 2:32 AM FINALY I READ AN ARTICLE THAT HAS COME CLOSE TO THE REALITY OF SITUATION.THE FACT OF THE MATTER GOES LIKE THIS: ISREAL DICTATES FORIGN POLICY TO USA ,WHEN IT COME TO MID. EAST. THE LAST THING ISREAL WANTS IS AN IRAN WITH A FULL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT RUNNING IT.ISREAL FULLY KNOWS THAT THIER ACTIONS IN THE REGION ARE GOING TO BE OPPOSED BY ANY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN IRAN. THIS FACT IS NOT TO THIER BENEFIT. THERFORE ISREAL PREFER TO HAVE THE THUGS (MULLAHS) IN POWER IN ORDER TO JUSTIFY ITS DAY TO DAY PUMMELING OF THE PALASTINIANS.THE LAST THING ISREAL NEEDS IS OPPOSITION FROM A LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT IN IRAN.
Posted by chaz on Feb 6, 2003 at 7:47 AM History certainly proves the U.S. has not cared about genuine democratic reform *anywhere* in the Middle East where significant natural resources (e.g. petrochemicals/hydrocarbons) exist. It is hard to argue against historical trends, considering the current American administration and its business economic interests.
Iran is pivotal. What happens there will determine stability in the Mid-East, the battle against Al Qaeda, the security of Israel, global energy markets/prices, and even America’s relationship with the Far East. One would hope that the Bush administration would be keenly aware of this, and express its awareness to Americans and Iranians.
V.P. Richard Cheney has been a proponent of lifting economic sanctions from Iran for well over a decade. One must observe the incentives behind his past propositions, how those incentives are shared by the administration and how they have evolved from simple policy proposals from a then-CEO to overt or covert foreign policy actions in Iran today. In other words, what is the end-game for Bush in Iran, really?
This article may seem far fetched to some, yet the lack of truthful public information on American policy in Iran makes one beg the question over such clandestine operations between willing mullahs and energy-backed American leaders. The last time I recalled Washington giving “mixed signals” to Tehran so blatantly was when the Shah was on his way out. He was asked by the CIA to leave, once the onrush of the revolution seemed imminent. People must realize that the Shah, like Mossadegh before him (as well as Nasser, the Shah’s father, and Saddam Hussein today) wished to nationalize Iran’s oil interests further, thus triggering American discontent over his disobedience. The hindsight on this issue of energy interests v. Mid-East democracy is crystal clear…..
Posted by Paul on Feb 8, 2003 at 1:31 AM This story is very disturbing and I hope this: That the definitive U.S decision on Iran has not been made and that common sense prevails. The author was right on about the dubious U.S involvement with the Shah and it’s aftermath. Let us hope that the same government which claims to support freedom is not just a vicious hypocrite.
Posted by Steve Salzman on Feb 23, 2003 at 11:11 AM ” they have looked to America for inspiration.
As they have built their resistance against the same hard-liners that Washington
opposed, there seemed to be an unspoken compact between the two.”
I think this statement undermines iranian students and people’s movement for freedom
we are fighting for democrasy but the picture of democrasy we are fighting for is in no way
an American type of “democrasy” which I think in some cases is even worse than Iran. at least we got to choose the president we wished for!
here people dont have a choice! here you need to have money to win the votes!
it’s the money that rules!we dont have freedom of expression but at least if we get a chance we have the heart to critisize and if the TV and Radio are ruled by government at least people dont beleive them. there has never been any desire in iranian movements to show they are inspired by america maybe only those Iranian exile people who live in LA and most of them almost don’t have any thing in common with today generation of iranians have such feelings.
Posted by aram Ashti on Jul 18, 2003 at 6:39 PM I wrote the complete specifications for constructing the Gachsaran - Shiraz 230 kV transmission line. Much of what is contained in these articles I already knew or strongly suspected. For example I knew about SAVAK.
I have dual Canadian and American citizenship. Two of my ancestors fought in the Revolution and a distant cousin of theirs, named Nathan Dane, was a delegate to the Constitutional Congress.
Posted by K. Allan Dane on Jul 18, 2003 at 7:25 PM This is very insightfull, we need more analysis like this. My opinion is that there is no precedence that the US government ever promoted democracy anywhere in the world, including within the United States of America as we witness these days, and Iran will not be an exception to that, particularly now that the legitimacy of Israel is becoming increasingly under question by the public across the globe.
Posted by Yusef Jalali on Jul 18, 2003 at 8:55 PM Very powerful article. The history of relations between Iran and America proves to be a very interesting and informative pre-empt to the present state of affairs. This article outlines the intricately woven relationship between the two since the 1953 coup.
Posted by Sean Dailey on Jul 22, 2003 at 7:34 PM Bush seems not to have learned from the tragedy of Kermit Roosevelt’s Operation Ajax in Iran in 1953, which paved the way for the tragedies of 1978-79. His neo-conservative advisors yearn for a covert, or overt, American intervention in Iran at the behest of oil consortiums and Israel, when the best policy for all concerned is for the United States to let events in Iran take their course in whatever direction the people of that country choose.
Posted by Mark Dankof on Jul 24, 2003 at 3:11 PM As a first generation American from Iran, I found the accounts presented in this story very factual and the analyses quite enlightening.
Please keep up the good work.
Posted by Mehrdad Pirouz on Jul 25, 2003 at 4:54 PM This information needs to be publicized now, while it is still happening, rather than
after our betrayal and treachery is complete. The short term gain of saving the Iraq mistake by this unsavory “deal”
needs to be known, talked about by
the American Public, and brought into the campaign.
The death sentence of Hashem Aghajari
surely should be protested long, loud and often by our government. Thanks for
telling us.
Posted by Sylvia Holtz on Aug 26, 2003 at 6:34 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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