Coach Pāṇini ®In 1953, Iran had a democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, who committed what, in the eyes of the British Empire and the United States, was an unforgivable sin: he nationalized Iran’s oil industry.
(1/11)
For decades, British Petroleum (then the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company) had extracted Iran’s wealth, leaving the Iranian people with little to show for it. Mossadegh’s move was a bid for sovereignty, dignity, and the right of a nation to control its own resources. The response from the so-called “free world” was swift and brutal: a joint CIA-MI6 operation, code-named Operation Ajax, orchestrated a coup to overthrow Mossadegh, using black propaganda, bribed politicians, manufactured riots, (2/11)
and false flag attacks to create chaos and justify intervention. Hundreds died in the streets of Tehran as the Shah—an autocratic monarch—was reinstalled with #American and British backing.
(3/11)
This single act of imperial violence shattered Iran’s democracy and set the stage for everything that followed: decades of dictatorship under the authoritarian Shah, the rise of the secret police (trained and armed by the CIA), the deepening of anti-Western sentiment, and ultimately the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It’s not a stretch to say that the roots of today’s tensions, the cycles of violence, and the specter of war all trace back to this original sin. The aftershocks of that coup are (4/11)
still being felt, not only in Iran, but across the entire Middle East.
Yet, in the American imagination, #history often starts with the hostage crisis, or with the latest missile launch, or with the rhetoric of “rogue states.” We’re taught to see Iran as an irrational enemy, a threat to “our” interests, never as a nation whose modern history was violently derailed by foreign powers seeking oil and geopolitical dominance. The coup became a blueprint for U.S. and British interventions (5/11)
around the world, fueling a legacy of distrust, blowback, and endless war.
This is not ancient #history. The U.S. government only formally admitted its role in the coup in 2013, after decades of denial and the destruction of key documents. The British government’s involvement was only acknowledged even more recently. The details are staggering: CIA operatives posing as communists bombing mosques to stir up religious opposition, paying mobsters to riot in the streets, and bribing editors (6/11)
to print fake news-long before “fake news” became a household phrase.
So when Americans beat the drums of war with Iran, or wonder aloud “why do they hate us?”, we have to reckon with the fact that the U.S. and U.K. destroyed Iran’s best chance at democracy for the sake of oil profits and imperial power.
(7/11)
Imagine if a foreign power overthrew your #government, installed a dictator, and then lectured you for decades about freedom and democracy. Imagine if, every time you tried to chart your own course, you were met with sanctions, threats, and military intervention.
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The story of Iran is not unique. It’s a microcosm of the broader pattern of Western interventionism: democracy is celebrated only when it aligns with the interests of empire. When democracy threatens those interests—when a nation dares to control its own resources, or refuses to play by the rules of the global order—it is crushed, and the consequences are borne by ordinary people for generations.
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This is not about excusing the crimes or authoritarianism of the Iranian regime. It’s about understanding the context that gave rise to it, and the role that Western powers played in destroying the possibility of a different, more peaceful future. It’s about recognizing that the seeds of today’s conflicts were planted by yesterday’s coups, sanctions, and covert operations.
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If we truly want peace, if we want to avoid another catastrophic war, the first step is #honesty. We have to confront our own history, acknowledge the violence committed in our name, and reject the amnesia that allows us to repeat the same mistakes over and over. Until we do, every new crisis will be haunted by the ghosts of 1953—and the world will continue to pay the price for our refusal to learn from the past.
- Tim Hjersted | Films For Action
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1NKcVeA9Cb/
(11/11)
Ռուբեն@paninid found a comprehensive video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqMsTsF0qgY
How the US Turned Iran Into a Dictatorship (Documentary)
Ludwig Vielfrass@paninid the same people who go around saying “9/11 never forget!” are the same ones who say “Mossadegh was so long ago!” despite the difference between Mossadegh and the hostage crisis being only a couple years more than 9/11 and now.
Violet MadderIran and Afghanistan were wearing miniskirts along with everybody else in the 60s.
Secular democracies are just not allowed to happen in the Middle East, we've always gotta have somebody hating us for our freedoms etc as an excuse.
War profiteers farm violence like a crop.
Marcos Dione@paninid the other half of the history can be traced even further back: the 1915 Zionist inclusion in the Ottoman War, the 1917 Balfour Declaration for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, the 1918 Britain and France's conquest of the Middle East and UK's takeover of Palestine, the 1946-47 Jewish insurgency in Palestine, the 1948 end of British mandate and evacuation, and the creation of the State of Israel one day before that.
Totts
SilkesterStalin and his planning of a 2nd Holocaust in Russia is missing in this story.
Stalin drove Russian Zionists to migrate to Israel and the desire of Zionists to have their own realm safe from dictators hell bent on wiping them out, when they were just as much the national identity as they were their religious identity.
Context not excuse for the current genocide!
@silkester @paninid The context I tried to add was how colonialism has fscked up this area so many times. Of course, the conflict is way older :(
Schafstelze 🎗🖤@silkester @mdione @paninid And, Jews were living in the mandate area for ages, actually it was where they originated in the first place. Later waves of Ashkenazi jews were just an addition to the original jewish people there. Also, jews were driven out from arab countries from Marokko to Iran. They didn't come purely out of free will as 'colonizers' but because they HAD to.
A lot of arabs who are calling themselves palestines today also didn't live there before 1948 but came later.
A lot of arabs who are calling themselves palestines today also didn't live there before 1948 but came later.
@mdione @paninid a thread about the history of Iran and the US, and how is "the other half" of the story about Israel? There are two other big countries in between Israel and Iran.
Until Iran decided to make the erasure of Israel their main goal, there was no reason for animosities between them.
The Shi'ites wage war not only against jews but also against Sunni, Christians and every other religion (and atheists). For them there are shi'ite countries and countries to be invaded and converted.
Why did you think this would be a productive use of your time? 🤨
@Dingsextrem @paninid this is why: https://en.osm.town/@mdione/114686600682372978 While technically Israel has nothing to do with US/Iran in the '60s, I wanted to give a bigger view of colonialism in the area. True, "the other half"are the wrong words.
Paul Healey@paninid It is blowback. Given all the historical evidence that supports the #CIA and U.K. intelligence operatives advancing the growth of authoritarian regimes, is it not inevitable it has an interest in the U.S. becoming one? By working to raise the profits and enhance control of capital by the non-renewable interests of U.S. and U.K. transnational corporations, they have always been at war with civil rights. Corporate Sovereignty, not Republic Sovereignty has been sowing hell on Earth. It must be defeated, before the grim reaper gets its ecocide. There is still a chance to live long and prosper and secure the wellbeing and flourishing of an ethically sustainable morality. Choose the non-renewable death cults of a totalitarian world order or the democratic rights of diverse interests! #blowback #Authoritarian #dictators #TheFederation #EmpiresEnd #ecocide #FascistCults #WorldRevolution #FascistCultsHell #OligarchsEcocide #inequality #injustice #RubbleNations
tuban_muzuru,,, you and I both know this is so much simplistic crapola. You don't like the MAGA Christians ? - well neither do I. Now imagine these theocratic assholes were constantly trying to overthrown your government and install - surprise! surprise! - a theocracy.
The Shah was well within his right to act as he did. And when he let up on these bastards, we know what happened.
And when Saddam did the same, we know what happened to him, too.
The more things change.,,,
Urban Hermit@paninid thank you for the reminder. This is stuff I knew, but it certainly seems like the rhetoric in the US is ignorant of this history. The general public, seemingly willing to say, "why don't we nuke that whole area, they seem all crazy" seems deeply ignorant of the role the CIA played in setting up modern Iran.
This history should never be forgotten, it is the ultimate argument for non-interference. Unintended consequences when an administration tries to chose favored dictators.
Aethon
samiamsam
Raven667@paninid the more I know about the world the more I wonder that if the USA lived up to its ideals post WWII and supported democracy and anti-colonialism, instead of short term authoritarian powers, if we'd be in a *much* more privileged position now with many many more friends across the world and not be staring at our own authoritarian coup because the sentiment to support that just wouldn't exist