On February 28th, during an afternoon meeting in Tehran, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his key government and military advisors were killed in a surprise attack by American and Israeli forces. At a second meeting to determine who would lead the country, another group was killed in a joint American and Israeli strike. Currently, the Persian Gulf, the skies over Iran, its neighboring nations, and the Straits of Hormuz are among the most hostile areas in the world. The United States is dismantling Iran’s vast military resources and nuclear capabilities.
It is expected that Kurdish forces may enter the ground war to help overthrow the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). While the Iranians have launched numerous missiles and drones, their defenses have largely been destroyed, the Americans and Israelis have gained air superiority, and they are hunting down remaining weapon sites. Erratically, the Iranians have widened this war against their own neighbors and even North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries like Turkey and have possibly pushed Saudi Arabia toward flying combat missions with the Israelis.
Since 1979, there has been limited American contact with the strict fundamentalist Islamic regime of Iran, and the United States has relied on other nations to present its concerns. Since the end of World War II, the Americans and British feared a Soviet presence in this strategic, oil-rich nation. The British controlled the majority of Iran’s petroleum rights through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and feared a nationalist seizure of those assets.
When Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh moved to nationalize Iranian oil, the British and Americans supported efforts to restore the authority of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Rather than sending troops, President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation known as “Operation Ajax.” The mission was directed in the field by Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, who helped organize demonstrations and political pressure that ultimately removed Mosaddegh and restored the Shah to power after he had briefly fled the country. A longtime government leader, Mosaddegh had sought to nationalize all Iranian oil and rid his nation of outside “influences.”
From 1953 to 1979, the Shah, England, and the United States established a major alliance that included Western financial aid and major purchases of defense weapons by Iran. Oil profits from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company enriched both the company and the Shah’s government, and the royal family lived lavishly. The Shah opposed Islamic dissenters, placing many in jail and forcing others into exile.
One of these radical leaders was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a religious figure who was later exiled to Turkey, Iraq, and France. The Shah’s secret police crushed dissent among parts of the population that lived below the poverty line. After World War II, the American population, towns, cities, and the economy experienced tremendous growth, and foreign resources were needed to support that expansion. By 1980, the United States imported a significant amount of its oil from Iran and other countries belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
There was growing division over the pro-Western reforms in Iran that pushed many people to support the stringent views of Khomeini and oppose the Shah and his outside alliances. As many citizens lacked basic resources and faced poor future prospects, the Shah earned massive oil profits, cracked down on opposition, and supported the United States. For decades, the U.S. relied heavily on foreign fuel and sought to keep Iran as a buffer against the Soviet Union’s desire to control the Persian Gulf. By the late 1970s, major protests targeted the Shah from middle-class liberals, communists, the poor, and militant students who sought no separation between government and religion. Hostile resentment increasingly grew against the Shah as authorities violently suppressed major Islamic protests in the city of Qom.
Khomeini repeatedly labeled America the “Great Satan” and called for death to the United States for supporting the oppressive rule of the Shah. At first, President Jimmy Carter reasoned that the Shah had to promote domestic reforms to meet some of the demands of the opposition. Khomeini returned to Iran, faced little resistance from the military, and took control of the country. Iran became an Islamic Republic, strictly followed sharia law, and vowed to carry out a “Holy War” against the United States. The Iranian people were further infuriated by the Carter administration’s decision to allow the Shah into the United States to receive treatment for malignant lymphoma. This decision fueled demands that the Shah be returned to stand trial for crimes against his own people.
Tensions deteriorated between the United States and Iran, as staff members of the American Embassy were briefly detained by Iranian forces. While Khomeini ordered the release of 100 American workers, he demanded that the foreign presence in Iran be reduced. Before 1979, about 44,000 Americans lived in Iran, including many government and military workers. The American embassy sent home most of its staff of 1,400 workers and left only seventy to handle the responsibilities of the diplomatic post.
On November 4th, 1979, after several tense months of protests and after Marine guards had already prevented one attempted seizure, the embassy was attacked by Iranian students. This began a national nightmare that lasted 444 days for 66 hostages, who were blindfolded, detained, and paraded in front of television cameras. Khomeini supported the militants, refused to negotiate with Carter, and made only a minimal concession by releasing thirteen women and African American hostages.
Every night, Americans watched news programs such as Ted Koppel’s Nightline to learn about the fate of the hostages and the response of Carter and the government in efforts to free them. Carter first ordered the freezing of Iranian assets and prevented the sale of military parts to Khomeini’s government. As the embassy was seized, six American embassy workers escaped the students and were rescued by the Canadian government. This account was later depicted in the 2012 film Argo, which portrayed the dangers faced by these Americans who feared being killed by the Iranian government. The film showed the tensions within the government and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as they attempted to return the Americans safely in what seemed like a near-impossible mission.
About six weeks after the embassy was taken, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, posing a threat to a large portion of the world’s oil supply. Carter feared communist control of the region and demanded that the Soviet Union withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. When the Soviets ignored American protests, Carter retaliated by boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics, halting grain trade, and suspending future arms-reduction treaties.
Americans watched in horror as blindfolded and imprisoned citizens were paraded on television. While the government attempted to negotiate with Khomeini’s regime, the process was extremely slow, and Carter eventually ordered a rescue attempt. On April 24th, 1980, Carter approved the risky plan known as “Operation Eagle Claw,” which called for Special Forces to fly near the American Embassy in Tehran. The plan expected a military team to seize the embassy, rescue the hostages, and be picked up by helicopters waiting at a nearby airfield. This hazardous mission of 118 soldiers was devastated by a desert sandstorm that caused helicopters to malfunction, and later an airplane and helicopter collided, killing eight American service members.
Next week will be a continuation of the history and fighting in Iran.