One perspective presented Iran with a positive rising income (but unequal), good life expectancy, fair treatment for minorities including Jews, Armenians and Assyrians. Over half a million citizens with college degrees from abroad. Traded with Israel. Relative freedom for Muslim women, even planning to give them the vote.
On the other hand you had a religious fundamentalist, who thought women had way too much freedom. Khomeini also hated Jews and Bahais as well as the American government.
How did it happen? More than 40 years after the Iranian Revolution Scott Anderson was able to talk with many eye witnesses and uncover detailed written information. He does a great job providing a better understanding of this globally important event with serious consequences today.
Shah Reza Pahlavi was not universally popular. Corruption was evident and inequality was prominent. His freedom for women and toleration of Jews and Bahai offended many. His secret police, SAVAK was assumed to be much more intrusive than Scott was able to prove, but nonetheless clamped down on political dissent. The Shah was very secretive. He would talk to generals, chosen for loyalty one on one and never as a group. He kept knowledge of a fatal medical condition from American intelligence. An interesting skill was he could pilot jet planes and did so.
Ancient Persians did not enslave the people they conquered and allowed them to keep their religion. They required only a pledge of loyalty to the Kingdom.
The Brits wanted to get rid of Mohammad Mossedegh, an elected leader who wanted to nationalize their oil resources. They negotiated with President Truman who turned down request for a coup, but Eisenhower agreed. Shah had been requested to sign an agreement to this end, but at first refused until Kermit Roosevelt strong armed him to do so. The U.S. government had helped engineer the coup that in 1953 forced Mossedegh out and replaced him by a more powerful Shah.
Fundamentalists immediately developed a greater grudge against Americans. They already felt that Americans tempted Iranians to sin and encouraged female freedom. Khomeini was one of the more vocal critics urging death to the Satanists.
Jimmy Carter actually wanted to develop a stronger relation with Iran recognizing they were stable in an unstable part of the world, supplied a significant amount of oil, bought a lot of American weapons and provided a better location to monitor the Soviet Union. He successfully encouraged the Shah to modify his human rights abuses. He felt obligated to the Shah, but paid little attention to the real situation and his staff mostly ignored Iran, until they couldn't.
Ebrahim Yazdi, was a key operative. Born in Iran he was an Islamist with a social conscience and became very upset about the Mossadegh ouster and hated the Shah. Although aware of the American connection he ended up upgrading his education and becoming a pharmacologist in the U.S. Active among anti Shah groups while in America at first sought political action, but decided a fundamentalist would work better. When Khomeini needed to find a new exile location Yazdi steered him to France where he would have a better platform allowing his bombastic sermons to have a wilder distribution. Yazdi provided translations for media while toning down Khomeini's hatred. Noted U.S. most concerned with all the riots in Iran that Communists would take over, but they were assured not a problem. He planned strategies to steer the military leaders to Khomeini. He was a moderate to the end (2017) confessing he regretted his (critical) involvement with Khomeini.
Riots escalated and it was decided the Shah should leave. Khomeini was
ready to move in, but other political forces tried to form a government
encouraged by the United States.
Eventually in 1989 Khomeini came to Tehran and gave his blessing to some politicians he approved of, but was in reality the final decider. The Americans wanted the politicians in charge, but found even they bowed to Khomeini.
When Iraq invaded Iran to take advantage of its supposed vulnerability the Iranian leadership realized they had used up much of their weaponry and needed the U.S. to re-supply them and negotiations seemed to be progressing, but suddenly collapsed. There was speculation that Ronald Reagan's campaign team may have encouraged the delay for the hostage release. It is known they had contact with Khomeini staff. Scott Anderson, the author in 2023 learned of comments by prominent Republicans that indicated they had inside information the hostages would not be released until Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. Carter's humiliation at the hands of the Iranian went right to the inauguration.
One interesting source for this book was Michael Metrinko who had learned Farsi when working with the Peace Corps. He learned what street Iranians thought and tried to pass it on to little avail. Working with the U.S. Embassy he was captured with the other American workers and for awhile his Farsi abilities were hidden, but when discovered he was tortured as he was falsely thought to be with the C.I.A. He was eventually released and when the author discovered him he was sharing his house with a few Afghan students who had escaped that conflict.
Details do matter and Scott has been a hard worker uncovering the key players and the key moves. A blog cannot do justice to his book, but it is my hope you will check out the book itself.
Trump has found Iran to be a good enemy to use for his political goals. An earlier view of Iran from 2022: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/10/the-iranian-dilemma.html That was for his first term. In his second term he has taken a more aggressive stance in line with Netanyahu's perspective.
Jimmy Carter made critical mistakes with Iran, but overall was a very decent man who did much good, but admits his biggest regret was with Iran. http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/the-outlier-unfinished-presidency-of.html
An earlier book, "Lawrence in Arabia" illustrates Scott's understanding of important historical events. http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/12/lawrence-in-arabia.html
