Member Reviews
I. David R, Reviewer
A Historical Context Behind the Endless Hostility Between America and Iran
In America and Iran: A History 1720 to the Present author John Ghazvinian describes the history of the relationship between America and Iran. Ghazvinian is a historian, author and former journalist who was born in Iran and educated in England. He is currently the Executive Director of the Middle East Center in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote this history to provide context for the current status of the relationship between America and Iran. And he has done as excellent job.
America and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since 1979 when, after the Islamic Revolution, Iranian students stormed the United States embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage for more than 400 days. Efforts at rapprochement since then have been unsuccessful with each side blaming the other for increasing hostility. Ghazvinian’s warm feelings for both Iran and America are clearly evident in this book. He seems like a man who cannot understand why two beloved feuding relatives cannot put their petty differences behind them and just start to get along.
Ghazvinian asserts that, from a historical perspective, there was every reason to believe that America and Iran should have had friendly relations. He explains that, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Iran was dominated by Russia and England. Iranians thought that America, a former colony that had obtained its own freedom from England, would be sympathetic to Iran’s plight and would help Iran wrest its freedom from the two European imperialists.
America, however, took little interest in Iran until the early 1950s when, to retain its rights in Iranian oil, England convinced American diplomats that Iran’s newly elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, was going to align the country with the Soviet Union. In the shadow of the Cold War the Central Intelligence Agency, working with England, engineered a coup that replaced Mosaddegh with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
America supported the Shah and his ruthless dictatorship for the next 26 years until he was finally overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ghazvinian explains that America’s participation in the 1953 overthrow of Iran’s freely elected government and its continuing support of the Shah have made Iranians suspicious of virtually every American action. Because of the 1979 hostage crises and the subsequent belligerence of Iran’s leaders, Americans have been equally suspicious of every Iranian action.
But this endless dispute between America and Iran appears to be as much a matter of perception as it is a matter of reality. Ghazvanian demonstrates this difference between reality and perception through Iran’s recent effort to develop a nuclear capability. The reality is that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear capability. The perception in America, according to its government and the media, is that Iran is hell-bent on developing a nuclear bomb which it could use to destroy Israel or even the United States. The perception in Iran, as described by Ghazvinian, is that Iran is only interested in using its “nuclear capability” for peaceful purposes, that Iran would not be interested in building a bomb because such a weapon would be against the principals of Islam, and that the position of the American government and the American media is based largely on influence from Israel which is mostly concerned that improved relations between America and Iran would cause Israel to lose its position as America’s most important ally in the Middle East.
Because America and Iran have lacked diplomatic relations for so long each country has been forced to develop its own interpretation of the other’s words and actions. Misunderstandings and misrepresentations are unavoidable. In describing the combustible relationship between the two countries authoritative resources are likely to provide conflicting viewpoints. Therefore, while America and Iran: A History 1720 to the Present is a highly readable book that comprehensively covers the history of the relationship between America and Iran it should be viewed as an excellent starting point for further understanding of that relationship. I give it a 4 star rating.
Thanks to #netgalley and to Alfred A. Knopf for my early release copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
