The Complicated History Between The US And Iran, Explained

The end of World War Two signaled a shift in political division worldwide. Decolonization, economic recovery, and independence efforts that took place in the early days of the Cold War provoked fears that countries would lean to one side - the United States - or the other - the Soviet Union. The third path, taken by countries like India, didn't find a country firmly aligning with either, but even that could be risky and didn't eliminate influence from one, the other, or both superpowers.

Even before WWII concluded, the Allies gathered at the Tehran Conference in 1943. The conference came two years after the British and Russian occupation that ousted Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran. Reza Khan was replaced by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

When Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill issued the Tehran Declaration in 1943, they affirmed several actions and assurances as WWII continued. Among the agreements and disagreements that were discussed at the Tehran Conference was the promise that, after WWII ended, Iran would be independent:

The Governments of the United States, the U. S. S. R., and the United Kingdom are at one with the Government of Iran in their desire for the maintenance of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran.

This statement supported Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's efforts to increase his power in Iran, albeit not necessarily consciously. Since 1906, Iran had operated under the Persian Constitution and was home to a National Constituent Assembly, essentially a Parliament. After an assassination attempt on Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1949, the leader of Iran had the Constituent Assembly amend the Constitution to give him the power to disband the legislative body.

As the early days of the Cold War continued to demonstrate where the US and the USSR would have influence, want to have it, and fight for it, Iran was of particular importance. When Iran nationalized its oil industry in 1951, it rang alarm bells around the world. 

The decision to nationalize oil in Iran in 1951 was done under the leadership of Mohammad Mosaddeq, a member of the Majlis (Parliament) and soon-to-be Prime Minister of Iran. When seizing control of all oil assets in Iran, the country took the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and formed the National Iranian Oil Company out of the British-backed entity. 

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Prime Minister Mosaddeq disagreed on how to handle foreign powers in Iran, although the former wasn't opposed to the nationalization of the oil industry. The British, for their part, wanted to attack Iran and take back the oil company. Even though President Harry Truman of the US offered alternatives in the hopes of avoiding a conflict, he did support the British embargo of Iran. By 1952, both the Central Intelligence Agency and MI6 (Britain's equivalent) had already been trying to unseat Mosaddeq from power. The plan was called Operation Ajax.

By the time the initial coup attempt took place, the CIA had the Shah on board to support removing Mosaddeq because he believed that, if he didn't, he would be ousted as well. At first, the CIA and MI6 tried to buy off members of the Majlis to vote General Fazlollah Zardari in as his replacement, but that was ineffective. Mosaddeq dismissed Parliament, prompting the Shah to sign a decree for the Prime Minister's arrest. Colonel Nematollah Nassiri was supposed to arrest Mosaddeq on August 15, but was arrested by Mosaddeq's men when he arrived to do so. 

Zardari and his supporters went into hiding while the Shah left Iran and went to Baghdad. The failed coup was followed by another attempt, however, this time with misinformation spread by the CIA that the Shah and dismissed Mosaddeq. Riots were intentionally provoked and international intelligence agencies worked to undermine Mosaddeq while simultaneously boosting support for Zardari. On August 19, 1953, Mosaddeq surrendered to his opposition.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established "Atoms for Peace" in 1953, telling the United Nations General Assembly the world needed to "shake off the inertia imposed by fear, and is to make positive progress toward peace" by embracing atomic energy as a good. This set the foundation for countries, like Iran, to establish nuclear programs aimed at developing power sources and other perceived goods.

In 1967, the active involvement of the US in Iran's nuclear capabilities took one step further. The US provided Iran with its first nuclear reactor that year, a decision that former arms control officer Robert Einhorn called giving "Iran its starter kit." Einhorn explained,

We weren’t terribly concerned about nuclear proliferation in those days, so we were pretty promiscuous about transferring nuclear technology. We got other countries started in the nuclear business. 

Iran did sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, agreement that went into effect in 1970. Signees agreed not to transfer "nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control of such weapons or explosive devices directly, or indirectly." Additionally, participating states said they would,

not to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; and not to seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

During the decade that followed, Iran put billions of dollars into its nuclear program, including purchasing additional reactors from France. An attempt to buy still more reactors from the US in 1978 never came to fruition after the Carter administration intervened and insisted safeguard about nuclear weapons be part of the agreement. Iran refused. 

The diplomatic relationship between the US and Iran remained relatively collegial until the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was ousted by Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Khomeini, a revolutionary Shia cleric who opposed the Shah's "secular and anticlerical policies." The Ayatollah had been active in Iranian politics since the early 1960s, exiled after protesting the Shah's efforts and reforms in land, elections, education, and industry. 

While in exile, the Ayatollah built up a following, and on February 1, 1979, returned to Iran. By this point, the Iranian Revolution was well underway, fueled by growing vitriol against Western cultural influences in the country. Protests and riots throughout 1978 preceded the Shah's departure from Iran on January 16, 1979. By the time the Shah left, according to retired US Marine Colonel Richard D. Camp, who was in Iran to provide assistance to the Shah,

We were told later that more than 2 million people called for the overthrow of the Shah and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini from exile.

The Ayatollah took over the government in Iran on February 11, ultimately assuming the position of Supreme Leader. He consolidated power, and Iran became a theocratic republic in April of 1979. At that point, the country was renamed the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Despite having supported Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the US hoped to normalize relations with Iran once Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took power. His anti-American rhetoric necessarily made this a challenge but when the last Shah of Iran requested entry into the US, the matter became even more complicated. 

At first, President Jimmy Carter did not grant the Shah's request, ultimately relenting because, in his words, 

I was told the Shah was desperately ill, at the point of death.

The Shah had lymphoma and, by the time he got the US, his situation was grave. He sought medical treatment in New York starting in October 1979, but his presence in the country immediately sparked anti-American protests in Iran. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranians stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, taking dozens of Americans inside hostage. After releasing minorities and women, an escape by six hostages in January 1980, and letting gone hostage free due to health reasons, there were 52 hostages at the Embassy. 

A failed attempt to rescue the hostages in April 1980 resulted in the deaths of eight members of the US military, an intervention that likely influenced the presidential election in November. Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States and, just moments after his inaugural oath was completed, the hostages were released. 

In the end, the Iran Hostage Crisis lasted 444 days, well after the Shah died on July 27, 1980. At first, Iran demanded that the Shah be turned over in exchange for the hostages, but after he passed away, the demands shifted to releasing Iranian financial assets overseas. The agreement that ended the hostage crisis, called the Algiers Accords, included the return of those assets as well as assertions that,

The United States pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs.

While the Iran Hostage Crisis was still underway, Iran and Iraq were engaged in a war. The war started on September 22, 1980, when Saddam Hussein led Iraq in a full invasion of Iran. Air strikes preceded a ground invasion and, on September 30, Iran responded with aerial strikes. The war was characterized by eight years of back-and-forth exchanges and stalemates, and didn't end until 1988 when both sides agreed to a ceasefire.

During the war, the US publicly supported Iraq and Saddam Hussein by providing economic aid, access to munitions, and, in the words of President Ronald Reagan, "whatever was necessary to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran." This was especially true through 1982, when Iran gained the strategic advantage in the conflict.

While "The Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations permitted—and frequently encouraged—the flow of money, agricultural credits, dual-use technology, chemicals, and weapons to Iraq," the US government placed sanctions on Iran. 

In 1986, however, it came to light that the US was selling weapons to Iran. What developed into the Iran-Contra Affair involved the US covertly selling munitions to Iran and then funneling that money to support the Contras in Nicaragua. The Contras were anti-Sandinistas and, as early as 1981, the CIA "armed, clothed, fed and supervised" their efforts. 

A report about the Iran-Contra Affair from 1987 outlined how President Reagan authorized Israel to sell weapons to Iran in 1985 and 1986, affirming the US would replace them with more in exchange for those funds. In exchange, the US hoped to secure the release of American hostages in Lebanon. Additionally, Oliver North, the National Security Council's military aide, began negotiations with a separate group of Iranians. 

The matter later resulted in a cover-up, and several individuals (including North) were charged with various offenses related to the affair. Regardless of the scandal that erupted over Iran-Contra, the US had been supported both sides of the Iran-Iraq war. Historian Avi Shlaim described the policy of the Reagan administration as "secretive, erratic, and unconstitutional… a sorry tale of floundering and blundering, of dishonesty and deception, of expediency and myopia." In the end, US intervention did nothing to stabilize the region or establish any good will between the US and Iran.