For anyone looking into the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, what’s laid bare is not a history of friendship, diplomacy, and mutual respect, but rather a past marked with covert action, harsh rhetoric, and now, hot war.
In 1953 the CIA directed an overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iran and reinstalled “the Shah” – or king – who spent the next few decades exerting an ever more oppressive hold on the nation. In 1979, the Iranian people revolted, overthrowing a government they saw as acting on behalf of the United States, not the people of their nation, and claimed 52 American hostages from the U.S. Embassy. A clearer case of “blowback” – a term coined by the CIA to illustrate the unintended consequences of American foreign policy and intervention – has rarely been seen. In 1982, in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War, elements of the U.S. government provided intelligence and weapons to Saddam Hussein. Some of that intelligence is alleged to have allowed Iraq to deploy chemical weapons on Iranian positions. In the years after 9/11, the Bush administration called Iran a part of today’s “axis of evil” and started a series of sophisticated cyber-attacks against the country under the title Operation Olympic Games – a mission continued through the Obama years.
The Obama Presidency provided, perhaps for the first time in modern history, a time where both nations set aside the animosity of the past in order to work together as they navigated the difficult waters of Iran’s nuclear program. Long the main issue between the United States and its regional ally in Israel, Iran conceded to considerable capacity limits as well as extensive inspections from international bodies, and in return, it received a major reprieve from sanctions. The deal put in place was not perfect, but any meaningful deal between any parties, not matter the issue, requires concession and compromise. In 2018, the Trump Administration voided the deal despite Iranian compliance with its terms, leading to a return to sanctions, political posturing, and increased tensions.
Now? Bombs are falling across Tehran. American servicemen and women are returning home in flag draped caskets. What happens when the dust settles?
Wars end, or at least we think they do. The explosions stop, troops come home, and nations rebuild from the ashes of what was. But the real scars of war cut far deeper; they can taint generations. The blowback can lead, and has led, to violent revolutions where the replacement is far more dangerous, far more volatile, than the demonized boogeymen of today.
What happens, just 10-years from now, to the eight-year-old Iranian boy whose sister was killed in the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh girl’s school? To the Persian son whose parents were lost in the rubble of a building razed by a missile? Does this young man praise Israel and the United States for his liberation – for freeing him from the bondage of an oppressive regime? Or does he harbor anger and hatred toward two nations that perpetuate the same cycle of violence that the countries in question have been wrapped in for generations?
The blowback many look at is the 10-meter target, the immediate danger of Iranian retaliation. Missiles for missiles. Bombs for bombs. But what if, along the same lines of our two nations’ entwined history, the real blowback for these actions isn’t felt for many years. In killing the Ayatollah, has this joint U.S.-Israeli operation ushered in a new age for Iran? Perhaps. Maybe it is true that a majority of Iranians have been waiting for this opportunity and yearning for a freedom suppressed by the dictatorial theocracy that has ruled since 1979. I sincerely hope that’s true. But it is equally possible that we discover that the Iranian people are solidified in their resolve by the threat of outside actors dictating their destiny once again.
Wars of regime change feel just. America liberating the people of the world to endeavor toward the same freedoms we hold so dear, and far too often take for granted, is an undeniably admirable aim. But what is America’s role in this world? Is it to twist and bend the nations of the globe into the shapes we find most pleasing? Or is it to be a “city on a hill” providing an example by which the world clamors to follow. Wars of regime change far too often are based on lies and propaganda, and the real reasons for ousting governments and disposing dictators are far more selfish than selfless. Imposing the will of the United States upon Iran, or any foreign nation for that matter, will simply beget the same negative outcomes we have witnessed for nearly 50 years. The unintended consequence of our confrontational policy toward Iran only emboldens their mission to achieve nuclear capabilities, seeking to protect themselves from foreign powers that seek some semblance of domination over their self determination. Diplomacy, not demands, is the path required for meaningful change. It’s only through a foreign policy of peace, commerce, and honest friendship that the mistakes of yesteryear can be washed, and the prospect for a bright future can be pursued.
Cody Morgan is a Maine native who graduated from the University of Maine in 2015 with a B.A. in Political Science with minors in legal studies, the American Constitution, and film/television production. He had his political awakening during the 2012 Ron Paul campaign, acting as a youth coordinator for the state, eventually becoming a delegate for the state of Maine to the Republican National Convention. Cody’s senior capstone paper on U.S.-Iranian relations was published in the peer reviewed Cohen Journal, a publication of the William S. Cohen Institute.
